HC Residence Life & Housing

Office of Residence Life and Housing: 508-793-2411; Email: ResLife@holycross.edu

May I study abroad after I’ve signed my Housing Contract?

Once the agreement is signed OR you move into the assigned residence hall, you are financially responsible for the full year of room charges. 

The signed student is obligated to pay the College for the full cost of the room for the academic year.  The only exception will be when a student withdraws 

from the College.  If you sign the Housing Agreement then later choose to study away, you must request to be released from housing by August 1st, or you 

may be financially responsible for room charges. Should you return from study away, you will be obligated to reside on campus if you sign this contract.

Students studying abroad for the full academic year

If you have been approved prior to Housing Selection Process (HSP), you cannot be part of a roommate group during HSP.  If you have not been approved prior 

to HSP, you may join a roommate group and select a room.  Once you gain approval to study abroad, the room you selected will be forfeited.  Your roommate 

will retain the room and they may identify a new roommate or have one assigned to them.  They may not keep the room as a single.  In the case of higher 

occupancy living spaces, the Office of Residence Life & Housing may reassign remaining residents if the space is left at 50% or less of the total capacity. 

 For example, if 3 or more students from a 6-person suite decide to study abroad after selecting the room, the remaining students may be reassigned to a more appropriate space based on the group’s occupancy.

Students studying abroad for only one semester

Students studying abroad during the fall semester will not have a room held for their return in the spring.  However, students may identify a “swap” with another student who is vacating their assignment to leave campus in the spring.  Students who are able to plan for a housing "swap" should contact the Office of

 Residence Life & Housing via e-mail after housing selection has been completed, copy all of the students involved in the housing arrangement, to formally 

request that the "swap" of housing assignments be processed for the following semester. Students returning to housing who have NOT planned for a “swap” 

will be contacted by the Office of Residence Life & Housing toward the end of the fall semester and will be assigned to class year appropriate housing 

according to availability.  Students studying abroad during the spring semester may participate fully in the previous year’s HSP in order to select a room for 

the fall semester before they leave for study abroad.  Students studying abroad in the spring are expected to fully vacate their fall room assignments and 

remove all of their belongings from campus housing.

Housing for your Senior Year

The Office of Residence Life and Housing will begin emailing students with information in regard to the room selection process after spring break. Students

 who are abroad and have internet access should check their Holy Cross email regularly for updates on how to proceed through room selection.  Signing the 

housing agreement, single room registration, and roommate group registration can be done with a standard internet connection.

Students who do not have internet access while abroad should contact the Office of Residence Life and Housing at 508-793-2411 to make other arrangements.  

Room selection typically takes place at the end of April.  During the spring semester, students should check the webpage for important dates and information: https://www.holycross.edu/campus-life/housing/housing-selection-process

SPECIAL NOTE -- It is recommended that you make your own arrangements for a roommate for your return to Holy Cross. Many students who will be away in 

the Fall semester but will return for the Spring semester arrange for a roommate by identifying a space that will become vacant by someone going to 

Washington, DC, semester away, or participating in a Study Abroad Program in the Spring semester. Please start speaking to your roommate(s) and friends 

early in the process.  This is the only way you or the Office of Residence Life & Housing can guarantee your return to a specific room on campus.  If you’re 

returning to housing at the start of your senior year, it’s recommended that you plan who you will live with early during your junior year.  The more initiative

 you take in planning your options early, the more likely it is you will have your preferences met and the more Residence Life & Housing will be able to assist 

you when necessary.