Housing for Returning Students

In the winter quarter, your student should start exploring housing options for the next academic year. And there are some important things to consider. Do they want to live on campus or off campus? 

Students wanting to return to on-campus housing can find information about the Returning Student Program. On-campus housing allows for a meal plan and lower costs for transportation.  

For off-campus housing, your student will have several decisions to make.  Do they want to have a single roommate or several?  Do they want to share a room? We often see students move off-campus with friends they made while living on campus. This option allows the student to prepare their meals and may involve additional transportation costs.

All housing options have different costs associated with them. UC Davis Financial Aid and Scholarships provides the budgets for each housing option on our Cost of Attendance web page. Keep in mind that these amounts are for 2024-25, and there will be some increase in costs for the new academic year.  

For Financial Aid purposes, please note that the costs associated with off-campus housing differ in the areas of Housing and Food, Personal Expenses, and Transportation. Housing and Food will be lower for off-campus students, and Personal Expenses and Transportation will be higher. Because the overall costs for off-campus students will be lower, the corresponding financial aid offer will also be lower.

Continuing students will get their financial aid package around July. Their housing status will be assumed for packaging purposes, so they will need to log into their MyAwards and confirm their housing status to receive an updated offer that correctly aligns with their housing option. 

Students living off campus will not be billed by the University for housing and food. Off-campus monthly rent will most likely begin on September 1, however, financial aid will not disburse until later in September. If short-term financial help is needed, your student can explore a Deferred Payment Plan with Student Accounting or a short-term emergency loanfrom Financial Aid and Scholarships. When Student Accounting issues refunds at the start of instruction, the student should use those funds to pay their monthly rent for that quarter.  

Students will need to understand what it means to sign a lease, how to negotiate expenses with roommates, and how to budget their money as they receive quarterly refunds.  

We are here to help your student. Our Aggie Blue to Gold Financial Wellness Program provides peer-to-peer help with budgeting and money management. All Aggies are welcome to schedule an appointment with a Peer Advisor.