Housing Selection for New Grad Students

Our convenient online portal is a one-stop destination for you to complete several RISD housing and residence life processes, including:

• applying for on-campus housing
• requesting medical housing accommodations
• completing dining forms
• registering to live off campus (if eligible)

Go to my housing portal

Incoming and returning students apply for housing and room selection each year via the housing portal. Returning students begin this two-part process in February; for incoming students, the housing selection window opens sometime in early May.

The first step is to sign the housing and dining license from within the housing portal ahead of the current-year deadline. After submitting your completed license, you will receive a time slot for room selection, which is the second step in the housing selection process. You can see the 2023–24 dining license or the 2024–25 license for details.

Please note that if you do not sign the housing and dining license by the current year deadline, you will not receive a room selection time slot. Instead, you will be assigned a room.

If you have special or medical needs that should be taken into account during the housing selection process, you should have a non-RISD affiliated medical professional complete a medical accommodation form. This can then be uploaded via the housing portal for review. Forms completed by a RISD Health Services provider, or a provider in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), will not be accepted.

If you need to request an accommodation as part of the room selection process for the coming academic year, do so by that year’s deadline to ensure full consideration of your request.

For students currently in RISD housing, requests for new or updated accommodations are reviewed monthly. To ensure timely review, submit your request prior to the first of the month.

Documentation guidelines

To accurately and equitably evaluate accommodation requests, you need to submit documentation from a medical professional that outlines the condition requiring housing accommodations. Complete our official medical provider form and submit via the housing portal when making your accommodation request. We will not accept other documents in lieu of the official form.

Factors we consider

We carefully review requests and supporting documentation on a case-by-case basis using the criteria below. Be aware that, in certain instances, a member of Health Services or Counseling and Psychological Services might follow up with the treating professional.

• severity of condition
• ability for student to live in RISD housing with or without accommodations
• potentially permanent health impacts or threat to life
• importance of accommodation to overall treatment of the condition(s)
• impact on academic and/or social experience

Timing of request

In evaluating medical accommodation requests, we take into account whether we receive the request:

• prior to the housing accommodation deadline.
• as soon as possible after identifying need for accommodation(s).
• before or after you receive your housing assignment or a change in diagnosis, etc.

You may be allowed to have an emotional support animal or service animal in RISD housing facilities if you meet the following criteria:

• You provide valid medical accommodation supporting your need for an emotional support or service animal.
• You comply with conditions outlined in RISD’s official service and emotional support animal policy.
  Since not all campus housing is suitable for animals, we reserve the right to relocate you to properly accommodating housing.

If we approve your request, you will need to submit an animal registration form along with all vaccination records. We permit only one animal per student with approved accommodations, and only one animal per living environment. A relocation will be required if more than one student in a shared space is approved to keep an emotional support or service animal on campus.