New Student Housing Process
Steps for New Students
Step 1—Complete the New Student Housing Form (by May 31)
The New Student Housing Form is available at the housing portal
- You will need to pay your deposit and set up your Gustavus email account in order to access the housing portal. It takes a day for our system to update. Please wait a day to login so your email gets into the system.
- Then, log in to the housing portal with your Gustavus username and password. The login credentials will be the same as your Gustavus email.
- Look for the Housing Forms section.
By May 31: Complete your New Student Housing Form.
Step 2—Update your profile for roommate matching
- We recommend that you fill out your own housing form. Your parent/guardian may want to help complete the form and the incoming student checklist, but you know yourself better than anyone!
- When completing the form, recognize that life changes when you go to college. You might think you'll go to bed by midnight or that you'll keep your room clean, but all that can shift when you move in and are actually living on campus. Answer the way you anticipate you'll live, but keep in mind that can change—and you'll set ground rules and healthy boundaries with your roommate right away when you arrive!
Step 3—Complete your building choice and search for possible roommates
- Complete a building-specific confirmation to join the roommate matching pool so you can search other students who submitted for the same first-choice of building.
- First-year students will be assigned to live in Norelius or Pittman Halls. As part of the new student housing form, you will rank your top choice of first-year housing options: Norelius Hall, the "We Are Community" in Norelius Hall, or Pittman Hall. Please visit our this page for more information about campus housing. If you have any questions, please contact us at housing [at] gustavus.edu (housing[at]gustavus[dot]edu).
Step 4—Submit your roommate match or have a roommate assigned
- By the end of Gustie Gear Up in June: If you have a specific person that you want to room with who is also an incoming first-year student and has submitted their housing agreement/application, you must have mutually matched through the online housing portal prior to the Sunday following Gustie Gear Up. Note: we cannot change/re-match roommate pairings after that! If you intend to self-match, you'll need to be mutually matched in the system by June 21, 2026.
- If you do not have a specific roommate in mind—do not worry! We will use the information you submitted on your housing agreement/application to match and assign a roommate for you.
Step 5—Housing assignment posted
- Housing Assignment and roommate information will be posted to your Housing Portal in early July. We cannot guarantee a particular housing assignment, but we work hard to ensure living on campus is a great experience no matter which building you live in! If you have any questions, contact Housing and Residence Life at housing [at] gustavus.edu (housing[at]gustavus[dot]edu) or 507-933-7529.
Housing accommodation requests
If you need housing accommodation(s) due to a documented disability, information and forms are available here.
Some recommendations for the first-year student housing process
- Your housing portal sign-in is the same as your Gustavus email credentials—you should be checking your Gustavus email regularly. It is the primary way that Housing and Residence Life communicates with students.
- Our first-year residence halls have distinct features that make them great places to live, but it's the people you meet and friends you make that create a special experience. We try our best to give you your top housing choice, but your second choice will be just as fun and transformative.
Transfer/exchange student housing
Complete the New Student Housing Form, available at the housing portal.
If a first-year hall is not the right fit for you, you will be placed in an alternate hall based on age/class year/information provided. Please email housing [at] gustavus.edu (housing[at]gustavus[dot]edu) to coordinate placement based on housing available and anticipated graduation year.
What should I bring?
Here is a list of what is included in your room, ideas on what to bring, and what is not allowed.
Rental loft, microwave, and fridge
The only lofts approved for use at Gustavus are available from BedLoft.com. You can order before your housing assignment is finalized. Enter your hall as 'Unknown' and your room number as 0. Bedloft.com also offers micro-fridge rentals and rug purchases. Items you order will be on campus for pick up on move-in day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rooms are furnished with beds, dressers, bureaus, desks, and desk chairs. Each residence hall also has common areas where furniture is provided. Furniture must remain in the space/room where it is assigned. Students are held accountable for the furniture assigned them.
The only lofts permitted on campus are those ordered through BedLoft.com. Order in advance of the fall semester and pick up your loft kit on move-in days (Friday of Orientation weekend for first-year students and Sunday for returning students). Students then assemble their own lofts (remember any bed ends MUST stay in your room!). Lofts are designed to be able to be set up by a single user without any special tools (bolts are provided with your loft kit). Watch this demonstration: Bedloft Three Bolt Metal Loft Setup—YouTube
Washers and dryers are available in every residence hall and are free to use for the residents of that hall.
You need to provide your own laundry supplies. We recommend pod-type HE detergents.
First-year students can’t bring pets to campus. But pet-friendly housing is available for sophomores and beyond.
Any student may bring a fish kept in an aquarium of 15 gallons or fewer.
Other animals, including visiting pets, are not permitted in the residence halls or academic buildings. If you require special accommodations, please see the housing accommodation process.
Residence halls remain open (with limited services) during academic year breaks, Fall, Thanksgiving, and Spring breaks. Residence halls close during Christmas break. If you are not able to leave campus for Christmas break (or are required to stay for any part of the break, i.e., athletics), you must apply and be pre-approved, to stay in your hall. Find more information on this page.
No. Students must use the College-provided mattress in their room. If you require special accommodations, please see the housing accommodation process. Waterbeds are prohibited.
- As an incoming first-year student, you may rank your preferences for the first-year housing options (Norelius Hall, We Are Community in Norelius Hall, or Pittman Hall) via the New Student Housing Form in the housing portal. Housing and Residence Life does a batch-assignment process based on building preference, roommate match, and availability. It is not possible to guarantee that you have your first choice of building, but both options are geared toward supporting the first-year student experience and building community.
- Transfer students are placed in a residence hall based on their age/approximate class year. Please email housing [at] gustavus.edu (housing[at]gustavus[dot]edu) if you are an incoming transfer student with questions about housing options.
- Returning students apply for housing through the various selection processes held during the spring term. Please see this page for the most updated information about that process.
First-year student housing does not have single rooms. For returning students, there is a single room selection opton in the spring for the following academic year. Single spaces are available in Sohre Hall or Gibbs Hall. However, we cannot guarantee a single for everyone that applies, selections are made based on a random ranking by class year. If you have medical need for a single room, please see the housing accommodation process.
We recommend bringing Twin XL sheets. There may be some variation in bed sizing, but the extra long sheet size will fit all mattresses.
These are not available. Consider bringing a small vacuum/personal cleaning supplies for your room. Public areas will receive regular cleaning services.
The Gustavus wireless network is available in all the campus residence halls.
All network devices on the campus network must be registered. This includes laptops, gaming devices, cellphones, Kindles, etc. For more help or information please see: Network Registration
You will need your Gustavus User Account (email) username and password to register any devices on the campus network. If you do not know this information, please contact the Technology Helpline at 507-933-6111 or helpline [at] gustavus.edu (helpline[at]gustavus[dot]edu)
Subject to space limitations, students who live 350 or more miles from Gustavus may store personal belongings in the hall storage rooms during the academic year and/or summer terms. Some restrictions apply.