Graduate Students

Graduate Student Housing Registration

2026-2027 Academic Year Graduate Student Housing Registration

The timeline for Fall 2026 Graduate Student Housing Registration will depend on housing availability after undergraduate housing registration. Graduate students should check their email consistently for instructions on how and when to complete their Housing Registration. More information will be provided later in the Spring 2026 semester.

Once Graduate Housing Registration opens, graduate students planning to live in on-campus housing for the next academic year will have two weeks to complete their Housing Registration in the GW Home Portal.

Our team is extremely excited to welcome graduate students  to our community. Our core mission is to build positive communities that empower our students to grow and develop as they engage in unique challenges and possibilities throughout their undergraduate experience. Our residence halls are a focal point of our institution's mission to further human well-being by offering a space of cultural and intellectual diversity that is the foundation for the exploration of new ideas.

All housing processes happen via a student's Campus Living GW Home Portal, which requires a student to claim a GW email address and UserID to log in.

Registration Steps

Review Residence Halls, Costs, and Dining Plans Available to Graduate Students

As a graduate student applying for on-campus housing, you will be assigned to live in one of our residence halls on the Foggy Bottom campus. The housing options available will be determined by availability after undergraduate housing assignments are complete, however, the possible graduate student housing options may include:

• 1959 E Street
• The Dakota
• District House
• Mark Shenkman Hall
• 2109 F Street

Review 2026-2027 housing costs before beginning the housing registration process. All students who live in a GW residence hall are required to have a dining plan and students should review the dining plan that upperclass students are required to have. Dining plans will be selected during housing registration.

All housing and dining costs are placed on a student's eBill, similar to tuition and other fees.

If desired, register with Disability Support Services (DSS) to Request a Housing Accommodation. 

Residential living is central to the learning environment for many GW students. Students with specific disability-related needs may request housing accommodations. If approved for a housing accommodation that we can meet, a student will be placed into the type of room that meets the specific housing accommodation.

Students who feel that they need a housing accommodation must register with GW Disability Support Services (DSS). Housing accommodations are reviewed by Disability Support Services, and if approved, sent to Campus Living & Residential Education. The CLRE team then uses the housing accommodation to place a student in a room that meets the accommodation.

Prepare for life with a Roommate

Almost all students who live in GW residence halls have roommates: someone who they share a bedroom or other living space with. Beginning to prepare for life with a roommate is an important step in the transition to becoming a GW student. Students and families should begin thinking about the following topics of shared living:

• Number of desired roommates (sharing a bedroom) and suitemates (sharing bathrooms)
• Bathroom types:
  • private (bathroom inside a room used by only those who live in that room)
  • adjoined (bathroom shared between two double rooms)
  • community (bathroom used by the entire floor, with distinct men's and women's bathrooms per floor)
  • common, private bathroom suites (shared gender-inclusive bathroom suites used by entire floor; multiple suites per floor with shared sink area and private, secure rooms with a toilet, sink, and shower; Thurston Hall only)
• Sleep schedules
• Desired use of the room (including studying, having friends over, noise, or other use)
• Desired level of room cleanliness
• Resolving differences in personal living preferences with roommates
• Any other important considerations around shared living environments

Students are assigned roommates through a variety of methods:

1. Students find each other and mutually agree to live with one another. Students may identify any other transfer student to live with, regardless of sex or gender, or
2. Students are automatically assigned one or more roommates of a similar sex. This roommate assignment used personal living preferences, noted in a student's housing registration, to match them up with students who may have similar living styles or preferences, or
3. Students who desire to live with any other student, regardless of sex or gender, may participate in our in Gender Inclusive Housing group. A student who desires this will note that in their housing registration and will be placed into a pool of students who may be assigned to live with one another without regard to a roommate's sex or gender. Personal living preferences will be used to match up roommates with others. Students who participate in this Gender Inclusive Housing group should be welcoming and affirming of all student gender identities, sexual orientation, or other identities

Register for Graduate Student Housing

Housing registration will begin via a student's GW Home Portal. We encourage all students to take their time and be thoughtful in their housing registration, in which a student will:

• Indicate personal living preferences, through a series of Yes/No questions, regarding important topics such as sleep schedules, use of rooms, cleanliness, and more. These answers will be used to assign students with roommates, if they don't request specific other people
• Sign a 2026-2027 Housing License Agreement, the agreement that outlines what you agree to in order to live in a GW residence hall
• Update contact information that Campus Living & Residential Education need to have on record for students and their emergency contacts

Upon successful registration, a graduate student will be able to edit their housing registration as many times as desired assigned to a room:

• adjusting the ranking of hall and room types
• adjusting answers to personal living preference questions

Receive Housing Assignment

Over the summer, all graduate students who register for housing will receive their specific housing assignment, including the residence hall, room number, and information about any specific roommates (if applicable). The CLRE team will release housing assignments on a rolling basis.

Housing Cancellation Policies

For 5 days after receiving their housing assignment, graudate students who registered for housing are able to cancel their housing through their GW Home Portal without a fee.

Graduate students who miss the 5-day window, but cancel their housing within 30 days of receiving their housing assignment will be charged a $500 dollar cancellation fee. 

Please note that after 30 days, cancellations will not be permitted for any reason besides leaving the university, such as studying abroad, graduating, transferring, or taking a leave of absence. Also note that if you cancel your housing for any of those reasons, you will not be charged a cancellation fee. However, the deadline to cancel 2026-2027 academic year housing for any of these approved reasons is May 15, 2026.

Graduate Student Housing Registration FAQs

Who can I create a roommate group with as a graduate student?

If you know another GW student living in on-campus housing who you would like to live with, you will be able to let us know of any preferred roommates by filling out the Roommate Request field in the GW Home Portal.

We will make every effort to assign graduate students with their requested roommates, but cannot make any guarantees.

Where will I live as a graduate student?

As a graduate student applying for on-campus housing, you will be assigned to live in one of our residence halls on the Foggy Bottom campus. The housing options available will be determined by availability after undergraduate housing assignments are complete, however, the possible graduate student housing options may include:

• 1959 E Street
• The Dakota
• District House
• Mark Shenkman Hall
• 2109 F Street

When will I receive my 2026-2027 housing assignment?

Graduate students will receive their academic year housing assignment sometime over Summer 2026.

What happens if I registered to live on campus as a graduate student but now no longer want to?

• Graduate students may cancel their housing in order to live off-campus, however, there is a deadline to do so.
• Graduate students may cancel their housing without a fee for up to 5 days after receiving their housing assignment.
• Graduate students who miss this 5-day window but would still like to cancel housing in order to live off campus may cancel their housing for up to 30 days after receiving their housing assignment with a $500 cancellation fee.
• After the 30 day deadline, it will not be permitted for any graduate students to cancel their housing for any reason besides leaving the university.
• Cancellation fees do not apply at any time for any other approved reason for cancelling housing, such as leaving the university to transfer, withdraw, take a leave of absence, or study abroad.
• However, The deadline to cancel 2026-2027 academic year housing for any of these approved reasons is May 15, 2026.