For Returning Students
2025-26 Housing Selection
Housing selection for returning students occurs in the spring semester every year. During housing selection, returning residents select their rooms and choose roommates for the following academic year.
The information below provides an overview of the housing selection process. If you have additional questions, please contact your professional hall staff member or the Office of Residential Life at housing@rf518.com.
Important Dates
- Dec. 1-March 20: Students submit their housing contract, housing application, and form roommate groups online in the Housing Self-Service Portal
- February: Students eligible for an off-campus housing exemption will be notified via email
- March 21: Students receive their housing selection date/time
- March 24: Greek Chapter rooms will be manually assigned
- March 25-27: General Housing Selection in the Housing Self-Service Portal
Room & Roommate Selection
Students can request and accept roommate invitations Dec. 1 through March 20. Students will not be able to send/accept a roommate invitation if they have not signed their housing contract and submitted a returning student housing application.
Because room selection can be unpredictable in terms of what will fill up first, you are encouraged to make several plans before your selection time. This includes how a roommate group will divide if a particular space is not available.
Students who do not have a roommate selected at the end of housing selection or who lose a roommate prior to fall opening will be consolidated with another Carthage student who is also without a roommate.
Returning Student Contract
Students who participate in the spring housing selection process sign a housing contract for the full academic year. After the contract is signed, students may not be released from their contract without meeting a residency exemption. Students who have a change in financial status are encouraged to reach out to the Office of Student Financial Services to request additional funding through an appeal process. Students who feel they have another extenuating circumstance that may warrant a release from their housing contract should reach out to the Office of Residential Life at housing@rf518.com.
Please carefully review the contract before signing. The contract is legally binding and covers the entire academic year.
Housing Options, Room Types, and Rates
Returning students will have the option of selecting traditional double rooms, triple rooms, and quad rooms in the following buildings:
Returning students will have the option of selecting a single room in the following buildings:
Returning students seeking a room with a private bathroom can find these options in the following buildings:
2025-26 Rates*
*Housing rates do not include the cost of the meal plan. Meal plan options and costs can be viewed on the Carthage Dining website once they are available.
Dorm Building |
Room Type & Cost |
| Traditional Halls: Standard Rooms Denhart, Johnson, Madrigrano, and Tarble |
Double rooms: $4,575.00 per semester (base rate) |
| Traditional Halls: Premium Rooms Denhart, Johnson, Madrigrano, and Tarble |
Single: $1,000 + base rate (per semester) Triple or Quad w/ bathroom: $275 + base rate (per semester) Not available in Madrigrano |
Oaks Residential Village |
Quad occupancy: $700 + base rate (per semester) Triple occupancy: $550 + base rate (per semester) Double occupancy: $850 + base rate (per semester) Single occupancy: $1,500 + base rate (per semester) |
| The Tower |
Double occupancy with campus view: $1,050 + base rate (per semester) Double occupancy with lake view: $1,250 + base rate (per semester) Single room: $1,650 + base rate (per semester) |
Selection and Residency Requirement
Housing selection times are determined by the number of successfully completed academic credit hours after J-Term. Credit hours in progress are not considered. Credit hours that are transferred in do count toward the total. Selection times are posted below:
| Sign-up Time | Tuesday, March 25, 2025 | Wednesday, March 26, 2025 | Thursday, March 27, 2025 |
8 a.m. |
126 and above | 57 and above | 20 and above |
| 9 a.m. | 118 and above | 53 and above | 17 and above |
| 10 a.m. | 106 and above | 45 and above | 12 and above |
| 11 a.m. | 98 and above | 36 and above | All |
| Noon | 92 and above | 32 and above | Sign-up ends |
| 1 p.m. | 85 and above | 28 and above | |
| 2 p.m. | 74 and above | 24 and above | |
| 3 p.m. | 66 and above | 21 and above | |
| 4 p.m. | 61 and above |
For students admitted for Fall 2022 and after, Carthage College has a residency requirement that requires all students to live on campus if they do not meet a standard residency exemption.
Students are required to live on campus unless they meet one of the stated exemption requirements:
- Live at home with parent/guardian within 30 driving miles of the College
- Age 23 or older
- Have dependent children
- Are married
- Have veteran status
- Ward of the court
If you wish to apply for a standard exemption from the residency requirement, please contact the Office of Residential Life at housing@rf518.com for details and an application.
Off Campus Housing Waitlist
If you do not meet a standard residency exemption and would like to live off-campus, please indicate that interest in the housing application. The Office of Residential Life will maintain a waitlist of students based on completed credit hours. We will begin contacting students via email in February to inform them that they are eligible to live off campus. Students must accept this offer by the deadline provided in their notification email to be exempted from the residency requirement.
Housing Accommodation Process
Students requesting a housing accommodation based on a medical need should email housing@rf518.com to obtain an application. Submission of this form does not guarantee the accommodation will be provided. Additional documentation may be required and must be reviewed by the Housing Accommodations Committee. If approved, students will receive a notification via their Carthage email. The deadline for housing accommodation for the fall semester is March 1. Students applying for accommodation through the Housing Accommodations Process should proceed through the spring housing selection process. If approved for a housing accommodation, the Office of Residential Life will work directly with the student to update their housing assignment appropriately.
Note: Students who have previously applied for and received housing accommodations must reapply annually for a housing accommodation if their approval was only granted for the current academic year.