Returning Student Online Room Selection for 2026-2027 will take place during April 2026.
Housing Accommodations: March 13, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.
If you require housing accommodation for a medical or disability reason and have not gone through the approval process, requests are due to the Office of Disability Services by early March. All information can be found on our Housing Accommodation Request Webpage.
Questions about housing accommodations can be sent to SHRC@jmu.edu.
Returning Student Online Room Selection FAQS
Important Information
- January 30: Roommate Search goes live on the Online Housing System
- March 13 at 5:00 p.m.: Housing Accommodation Requests due to the Office of Disability Services
- March 25: Honors Housing and Room Retention forms due by 5 pm in the Online Housing System
- April 3: Room Selection Timeslots sent via email to students with a signed Live On Again! Contract
- April 7 - 8: Online Room Selection: Fill an Apartment, Suite, or Room
- April 10: Online Room Selection: Fill a Bedspace
- April 20: Room Change Request form for 2026-2027 available on the Online Housing System
- May 18: Room Change Request forms for 2026-2027 are due
It depends on where you live! You should review our differential room rates (2025-26) for reference before online room selection. Rates for 2026-2027 will be available after approval from the Board of Visitors in late April.
Available Spaces
Returning students can select from any available room in the buildings listed below. It’s important for students who sign Housing Contracts to understand that Residence Life cannot guarantee your ability to select a specific building, regardless of when you signed your contract.
Bluestone: To be announced for 2026-2027
Grace: Apartments on Grace
Skyline: Paul Jennings Hall (Upper Level Floors)
Village: Potomac Hall (Upper Level Floors)
Please note that the Apartments on Grace, Paul Jennings Hall, and Potomac Hall are open during Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks. If you require housing during one or both of these break periods, you should select a room in one of these buildings.
Residents currently living in Paul Jennings Hall (upper-level floors) and the Apartments on Grace can return to their same room next year if the following conditions are met:
- The student must complete the Room Retention Form by March 25, 2026.
- This form will be available beginning February 2, 2026, on the Online Housing System.
- The space being requested is in a double or triple room. You may make such a request with or without a roommate, except for those in the Apartments on Grace. Single rooms are not eligible to be retained.
- To retain an apartment for next year, the current resident must completely fill the apartment.
Apartments on Grace
There are 1 bedroom double apartments for two residents and 2 bedroom double apartments for four residents.
There are many more 2-bedroom double apartments than 1-bedroom double apartments, so having a group of four students gives the best opportunity to select an apartment.
Students interested in living in the Apartments on Grace next year must be a part of a roommate group that is the same size as the apartment they are interested in. For example, if you and two friends want to live in 2 bedroom double apartment designed for 4 residents, you will need to find another person to add to your Roommate Group.
The Apartments on Grace are an extremely popular option for our returning students. Unfortunately, there is almost always more interest in this building than available spaces. This means that not all students who want to live in an apartment will be able to select one during Online Room Selection. Be sure you have a backup plan in case there are no available apartments when you are able to select a room.
Yes, all residents of on-campus housing, including the Apartments on Grace, must select a meal plan. Students who select an apartment for next year will be able to select any meal plan (residential or commuter) offered by Card Services.
Roommate Information
Only students with signed Housing Contracts can go through Online Room Selection. If you want to live with someone and they don’t have a signed Housing Contract, they will need to sign their contract through the Online Housing System. Students must have a signed Housing Contract and pay their Housing Contract Fee by March 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. in order to be eligible for Online Room Selection.
Roommate Selection will begin on January 30, 2026, on the Online Housing System for students to begin searching and selecting apartment mates/roommates/suitemates.
There are two ways you can search for people:
- You can search for people who have similar answers to the Lifestyle Questions by selecting "Browse Matching" from the Roommate Group Management page. This will bring up roommates who answered similarly to you. The higher the percentage, the closer your answers were on the Lifestyle Questions.
- If you already know who you would like to room with, you can search for them using their JMU eID. Select "Roommate Search by Details" to search for your roommate with their eID.
If you find someone you think could be a good fit for you as a roommate/suitemate, you can send them a message through the Online Housing System. This message will be sent to their JMU email. If you determine that you want to live together, you will need to be in a Roommate Group with them, and any other people you want to pick an apartment/room/suite with.
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot be in more than one Roommate Group, and you cannot create a new Roommate Group if you are already in one. You will have to leave your original Roommate Group in order to join or create a new Roommate Group.
One individual will need to create a Roommate Group within the Online Housing System. This will make them the Group Leader. When someone creates a Roommate Group, they create a group name and password that should be shared with all roommates/suitemates. Once the group leader has shared the group name and password with all roommates /suitemates, those individuals need to log into the Online Housing System to join the group. The Group Leader then needs to confirm that these individuals can join the group. Students can also invite other students to join their group. The individual who is invited must confirm that they wish to join the group. All roommates/suitemates must be confirmed members of the Roommate Group in order to be pulled into an apartment/suite/room by the individual who selects the room.
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot be in more than one Roommate Group, and you cannot create a new Roommate Group if you are already in one. You will have to leave your original Roommate Group in order to join or create a new Roommate Group.
The leader is the person responsible for creating the group name and password, as well as sharing it with desired roommates/suitemates. The leader of the Roommate Group can also:
- Message any other group members. All messages are sent to a student’s JMU email.
- Delete member(s) from the group. When someone is deleted from the group, they will receive an email saying that they are no longer in the group.
- Delete the whole group, which means that the former members will not be able to select an apartment/suite/room together and the group will no longer exist.
- Select an apartment/suite/room on behalf of the whole group – the Group Leader should do this only if they have the earliest room selection timeslot of all the group members.
- The Group Leader is sent an email when someone new joins their group.
A member is anyone who has joined a Roommate Group by entering the group name and password. A group member can:
- Message any other group members. All messages are sent to a student’s JMU email.
- Delete themselves from the group.
- Select an apartment/suite/room on behalf of the whole group – the group member with the earliest room selection timeslot of all the members should do the apartment/suite/room selection.
No. Any member of the Roommate Group can assign a space to everyone in the group.
It is recommended that the group member with the earliest room selection timeslot be in charge of completing Online Room Selection for all group members.
Room Selection Timeslot
All students who have a signed Housing Contract and have paid their Contract Fee by 11:59 p.m. on March 27, 2026, will receive a Room Selection Timeslot, which is the date and time a student will be able to select their room.
Any student who signs a Housing Contract after March 27, 2026, will not be assigned a Room Selection Timeslot but can be pulled into a Roommate Group and into a room as long as their contract is signed before someone tries to add them to a Roommate Group.
Room Selection Timeslots are assigned based on the date and time a student signed the Housing Contract.
All students who sign their Housing Contract and pay their Contract Fee by 11:59 p.m. on March 27, 2026, will receive their room selection timeslot via email on April 3, 2026.
The general rule is the earlier the room selection timeslot, the more building and room options will be available. So, if you are living with someone, it makes sense that the person with the earliest room selection timeslot logs in to select a room for next year.
Room selection timeslots are non-transferable.
Therefore, if you are unable to access the Online Housing System during your assigned time, you can submit a Proxy Form and Residence Life can pick a space on your behalf.
Forms will be available on the Online Housing System after room selection timeslots have been sent out. Forms must be submitted no less than 24 hours before your appointment time.
If you complete a proxy form, you will NOT be able to select a room during your timeslot.
You can log into Online Room Selection beginning at your timeslot. You can continue logging into the system until you have chosen a room or the system closes Friday, April 10, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.
Special Groups
All buildings available during Returning Student Online Room Selection are air-conditioned, have a reduced occupancy bathroom, and are in buildings with elevators. You will not have to do anything additional to make sure that you pick a space that will meet your accommodations.
If you have a housing accommodation for a single room and/or a private bathroom, you will be contacted by Residence Life at the end of March with information about selecting a room for next year.
No. There will be a section on the Honors Form about ranking your Residence Hall preferences.
This form will be available beginning February 2, 2026, on the Online Housing Portal. Students who complete this form by the deadline will be assigned to Honors Housing by Monday, April 6, 2026. Non-honors roommates are allowed in both Paul Jennings Hall and the Apartments on Grace. In order to live in the Honors-designated apartments, you must fulfill the following conditions:
- You must fill the entire apartment with two or four occupants.
- At least 50% of the occupants must be members of the Honors program. This means that in a 2-bedroom apartment with four residents, at least two occupants must be in the Honors program.
Completing Online Room Selection
There are two different parts of Online Room Selection. Students can only complete one process.
Fill an Apartment, Suite, or Room – Tuesday, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8:
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Groups of 2 or 4 students can select an apartment in the Apartments on Grace
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Groups of 4 or 6 students can select a suite in the Bluestone area
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Groups of 2 or 3 students can select double rooms in Paul Jennings Hall or double or triple rooms in any upper-class building in the Bluestone Area
The Online Housing System will not allow you to complete the selection process if you do not have the same number of members in your roommate group as beds in the apartment, suite, or room.
Fill a Bedspace – Friday, April 10:
Students can select any available bed space in an upper-class residence hall except the Apartments on Grace.
