Room Cancellation Policy

General Housing Cancellation Policy Information

Please refer to the Terms and Conditions agreed to during your housing application for full information regarding the Cancellation Policy. Students are held to the Cancellation Policy as listed in the Terms and Conditions under Section X. Termination of Contract. The Terms and Conditions can be found on each application page here.

Residential Life allows students to cancel their housing agreement should they meet the circumstances listed in the cancellation policy in the Terms and Conditions of their contract. Below is information about our cancellation policy and dates to follow in the Fall and Spring semesters.

Signing Your Housing Contract Agreement

In signing your housing contract, you are committing to Residential Life Managed Housing for the entire academic year (both fall and spring semesters). Students who submit a housing application will be provided a housing placement. We do not guarantee building locations, room types, room rates, or roommates.

Absent exigent circumstances, examples of unacceptable reasons to cancel this Agreement include, but are not limited to: dissatisfaction with location of assigned room; roommate disputes; vacancies left by roommates/suitemates; or, desire to live off campus (non-Office of Residential Life Managed Housing).

Submission of a request for cancellation does not guarantee release from the Agreement. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Office of Residential Life, which has the exclusive authority and discretion to grant a request for cancellation.

Cancellation of Contracts for the 2023-2024 Academic Year:

  1. Students may cancel their housing Contract, for any reason, by Friday, March 31, 2023. This applies to students participating in and are assigned housing during the Spring Housing Selection Process.
  2. Students who cancel their housing Contract, for any reason, between April 1 and June 14 will be assessed a $500 cancellation fee.
  3. Contracts are issued for the full academic year, and cancellation requests received on or after June 15, 2023 will not be permitted, except for those individuals who decide not to attend the University. As described above, this Contract is a 9-month financial commitment for both the Fall and Spring semesters. Only cancellations for students who are approved by their School to withdraw from the University, take a leave of absence, or defer their enrollment (collectively, “School-approved leaves”) will be permitted and must be approved by Residential Life.
  4. Cancellation fees are applicable, as described below. 
    1. Students must submit a Request for Cancellation of the Contract by filing a Room Cancellation Request (form available on WebSTAC through the Wash U Housing Portal). Submission of the request does not guarantee a release from the Contract.
    2. Please note the housing cancellation deadlines and related fees are non-negotiable. Cancellation fees are applied equally according to the published schedule and are never waived or applied to other balances.
    3. For students whose cancellation requests are approved by the University, the cancellation fee will be assessed as follows:
      1. For the fall semester:
        • If the request is received on or prior to June 14, 2023: $500 cancellation fee.
        • Cancellations for School-approved leaves received after June 15, 2023: $500 cancellation fee.
      2. For the spring semester – (only new applications)
        • If the request is received on or prior to December 31, 2023: $500 cancellation fee.
        • Cancellations for School-approved leaves received on or after January 1, 2024: $500 cancellation fee.
  5. The following reasons are generally not grounds for cancelling the Contract: roommate disputes, dissatisfaction with or location of assigned room, vacancies left by roommates/suitemates, dropping below full or part-time status, or desire to live off-campus (non- Residential Life Managed housing).
  6. Prorated refunds of room and board charges will be made to students whose cancellation requests are approved if they vacate their room by October 15, 2023 for Fall semester and March 15, 2024 for Spring semester. The prorated funds shall be returned to the student less the $500.00 cancellation fee. Any student whose cancellation is approved and who vacates their room after October 15, or March 15 will be charged for the entire semester.

Cancellation of Contracts for the 2024-2025 Academic Year:


1. Students may cancel their housing Contract, for any reason, by March 31, 2024.
2. Students may cancel their Spring-only housing contract for any reason, by November 30, 2024.
3. Contracts are issued for the full academic year, and cancellation requests received after May 31, 2024, or November 30, 2024 for Spring applications, will not be permitted, except for those individuals who decide not to attend the University. As described above, this Contract is a 9-month financial commitment for both the Fall and Spring semesters. Only cancellations for students who are approved by their School
to withdraw from the University, take a leave of absence, or defer their enrollment (collectively, “School-approved leaves”) will be permitted and must be approved by Residential Life. All students who complete and sign a housing contract are held to the terms of cancellation regardless of their assignment status.
4. Cancellation fees are applicable, as described below.
5. Students must submit a Request for Cancellation of the Contract by filing a Room Cancellation Request (form available on WebSTAC through the Wash U Housing Portal). Submission of the request does not guarantee a release from the Contract.
6. Please note the housing cancellation deadlines and related fees are non-negotiable. Cancellation fees are applied equally according to the published schedule and are never waived or applied to other balances.
7. For students whose cancellation requests are approved by the University, the cancellation fee will be assessed as follows:
a. For the fall semester
i. If the request is received between April 1, 2024 and April 30, 2024:
$1,000 cancellation fee.
ii. Cancellations for School-approved leaves received on or after May 1, 2024:
$1,000 cancellation fee.
b. For the spring semester – (only new applications)
i. If the request is received between December 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024: $1,000 cancellation fee.
ii. Cancellations for School-approved leaves received on or after January 1, 2025: $1,000 cancellation fee.
8. Students who receive their first housing assignment for the contract period after the aforementioned cancellation deadlines will be granted 72 hours from the notice of their assignment to submit a cancellation request at no penalty. These requests to cancel must still be based on accepted grounds for cancelling the Contract.
9. The following reasons are generally not grounds for cancelling the Contract: roommate disputes, dissatisfaction with or location of assigned room, vacancies left by roommates/suitemates, dropping below full or part-time status, or desire to live off-campus (non-Residential Life Managed housing).
10. Students that graduate from the university during the winter commencement, take part in a fall exchange program on campus, or are registered to study abroad for the spring semester are permitted to cancel the spring portion of their housing contract but must submit their cancellation request by November 15, 2024.
11. Prorated refunds of room and board charges will be made to students whose cancellation requests are approved if they vacate their room by October 15, 2024 for Fall semester and March 15, 2025 for Spring semester. The prorated funds shall be returned to the student less the cancellation fee. Any student whose cancellation is approved and who vacates their room after October 15, or March 15 will be charged
for the entire semester.
12. Students who wish to return to Residential Life housing after cancelling their housing contract may request housing by recompleting their application after contacting the Office of Residential Life requesting their application be reopened. Reapplying after cancelling their application does not absolve a student from the financial responsibilities associated with cancelling their housing contract

Housing cancellation deadlines and related fees contained herein are non-negotiable. Cancellation fees are applied equally according to the published schedule and are never waived or applied to other balances.

Submitting a Cancellation Request:

All requests for cancellations of the Agreement shall be made by filing a Room Cancellation Request (form available on WebSTAC through the WashU Housing Portal).

  1. Log into your WebSTAC account
  2. From the top navigation, hover over the housing tab and select WashU Housing Portal
  3. From your WashU Housing Portal, select request forms
  4. From the selection of request forms, select room cancellation
  5. Choose the appropriate contract cancellation and complete the remaining steps.

*In selecting your reasoning, please choose the most applicable from the options available.