How to apply for housing

Congratulations on your decision to attend NAU! We are excited that you are considering campus housing. Within a day of accepting your offer of NAU admission, you will be able to apply for housing.

This housing application is for room space in all communities managed by NAU.  

Log in to the housing portal using your NAU user ID and password. Then follow the step-by-step directions to complete your application.

You will be notified via your NAU email when you may pay the $100 non-refundable application fee.

You will be asked to electronically sign that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms and conditions of the license agreement. The license agreement is binding for the entire academic year, for both fall and spring semesters. Students are legally responsible for the financial fulfillment of this contractual agreement. Note: Students who are under 18 at the time of application must have a parent or legal guardian also electronically agree to the terms and conditions of the contract. 

New students, please note: 

• New transfer students: once admitted to NAU, you will need to accept your offer of admission and pay your enrollment deposit prior to applying for housing. Please allow one business day for access to the housing portal after paying your enrollment deposit.
• New international students: New international students should visit the Orientation website for more information regarding the orientation schedule, their required date of arrival, and frequently asked questions. Students should also ensure they complete all of the steps listed on the Admitted Student Checklist prior to their arrival at NAU.

Note: If you try to log in to apply and receive a Login Error message, your enrollment deposit is still being processed, and access to the application should be available by the next day.

2026 spring only 

You may request a specific roommate on your housing application. If you do not have a specific roommate request, you will be assigned a best-matched roommate based on space availability.

2026-27 academic year

Roommate search opens in January 2026. On your housing application, you will complete a roommate questionnaire to assist with roommate matching. You also have the option to add a personal bio to help others get to know your personality, interests, hobbies, and what you are hoping for in your roommate experience.

Looking for a roommate? You can search for, request, and accept specific roommates (based on space availability) — or be paired with another student. Your roommate questionnaire helps you match with students who share similar living preferences.

Ways to find a roommate:

• Best Matches: See students whose questionnaire answers are most like yours.
• By Question: Browse people who responded a certain way to a question that matters to you.
• By Major: Find roommates within your academic major.
• By Name or ID: Search for a specific person using their NAU UserID (abc123) or Web Name (42587).

You can also view profiles with academic college info and short bios to get a sense of who might be a good fit.

Roommate requests must be accepted before room selection if you’d like to live together. Using the roommate search tool is optional — if you don’t select a roommate, another student will be placed in the open space in your room.

Roommate Groups

When you invite someone to be your roommate, a group is automatically created.

• The person who sends the first invite becomes the group leader.
• Anyone who accepts becomes a group member (2–4 total).
• You can only be in one group at a time.

Pending Requests

When you or others send roommate invitations, you’ll see any requests that are still waiting on a response:

• Pending Outgoing Requests: Invites you or your group have sent.
• Pending Incoming Requests: Invites you’ve received from others.

Anyone in the group can send or cancel invites. If someone declines, they’ll be removed from the pending list.

Leaving a Group

• If you decide to join a different group, first remove yourself from your current group.

• If you’re the group leader, you’ll need to assign leadership to another member before leaving.

• If your roommate group consists of only one student (yourself) as the group leader, you will not be able to select a room. You must first leave the group before selecting an individual space.

Room Selection & Placement

Roommate groups are a request to live together — final placement depends on availability during room selection.

Tips for successful placement:

• Roommate requests must be accepted before room selection and placed during or after your selection time.
• You cannot add roommates later if you’ve already selected a room.
• The member with the earliest selection time should place the group for the best availability.
• Place yourself first, then add as many group members as space allows.
• Talk with your group ahead of time about backup plans in case your preferred community or room isn’t available. (I would move up into the same bullet list)

Requesting a specific community is not required on your application. You will be provided a room selection time to choose a space from all available rooms.

• 2026 spring only (January 2026–May 2026)
  • Room assignments are made by date of application and space availability. Assignments will be made into open spaces with continuing fall semester residents. Students were notified of room assignments in January 2025 before the communities opened.
• 2026–27 academic year (August 2026–May 2027)
  • Room selection will begin in spring 2025 and continue on a rolling basis based on the date of housing application.
  • You will be notified of your designated room selection start time through NAU email prior to your start time.
  • At (or after) your designated time, you can log into the housing portal to select your room from any space available at that time.
  • Honors College:
    • If admitted to the Honors College prior to your room selection time, you will be able to choose your room in the Honors College Campus Living Community (CLC) during room selection.
    • If you are admitted to the Honors College after initial room selection elsewhere, your initial room will be canceled, and you will be provided a new room selection time for space in the Honors College CLC.
    • Room selection in the Honors College CLC occurs by the date of housing application and space availability. You are encouraged to apply for Honors College admission prior to February 1 to live in the Honors College CLC.

Redo room selection

If you want to change your room selection, you will have the option to redo room selection on the application status page in the housing portal, which displays the current available space. Redo room selection will close mid-June 2025.

Each box on the room selection page contains a bedroom. Details in the box describe the room type, how many total beds are in the room, and how many of those beds are currently available to select. You will select Ready to Assign Beds when you are ready to assign yourself (and roommates) to beds. Please mind the count-down clock in the upper-right as you will have limited time to assign the bed and confirm the placement of yourself (and roommates) in the space(s) you have selected.

Images are representations. Room letter designations may vary by suite/apt.

Important information for those in a roommate group: 

• If you would like to place group members in the same room with you, you should do so at the time of initial room selection.
• Finalize your roommate group prior to room selection if you want to place all roommate group members.
• If you are selecting a semi-suite single in Honors College, please be sure to select both halves of the room as indicated in the graphic below. You must pay attention to the number of available beds in the room, as everything is based on space availability.

Images are representations. Room letter designations may vary by suite/apt.

Each box on the room selection page contains a bedroom. Details in the box describe the room type, how many total beds are in the room, and how many of those beds are currently available to select. You will select Ready to Assign Beds when you are ready to assign yourself (and roommates) to beds. Please mind the count-down clock in the upper-right as you will have limited time to assign the bed and confirm the placement of yourself (and your roommates) in the space(s) you have selected.

Images are representations. Room letter designations may vary by suite/apt.

Important Information for those in a roommate group: 

• When assigning roommates, please be sure to select enough bedroom boxes to accommodate the number of people you wish to assign. For example, if you want to assign yourself and three roommates, you should select two boxes of double rooms as in the example graphics. You would select four boxes if you are selecting single rooms in McKay Village and Pine Ridge Village. You must pay attention to the number of available beds in the room, as everything is based on space availability.
• If you would like to place group members in the same room with you, you should do so at the time of initial room selection.
• Finalize your roommate group prior to room selection if you want to place all roommate group members.

Images are representations. Room letter designations may vary by suite/apt.

• A $175 housing rent confirmation payment (HRCP) is required to hold your space on campus. This payment applies toward your first-semester rent.
• The HRCP is due by designated date. If you do not make this payment by the due date, your housing application will be canceled.
  • 2026 spring only: due Nov 15, 2025
  • 2026–27 academic year: due May 15, 2026
• If you apply after the designated date, your HRCP will be due within seven (7) days of your application.
• Cancellations:
  • The $175 HRCP will be refunded to your account if you cancel by May 15 (November 15 for spring only).
  • The $175 HRCP is non-refundable if you cancel after May 15 (November 15 for spring only).

No matter where you choose to live next year, you still can benefit from having a meal plan and the convenience of eating on campus. With everything from platinum weekly plans to semester block plans, there’s a variety to choose from to best fit your budget and your busy schedule.