First-Year Students: Accepting a Housing and Food Service (HFS) Contract

Instructions for incoming first-year students attending University Park to indicate preferences on their Housing and Food Service (HFS) Contract. 

The Housing and Food Service (HFS) Contract will be accepted by an incoming first-year student through the MyPennState system when accepting the offer of admission. 

• Residency Requirement: All first-year students admitted to University Park are required to reside in the University housing as part of the offer of admission to Penn State, for the admitted term (summer, fall-spring, or spring).
• Residency Exemptions: A student may submit an exemption request from the residency requirement for specific conditions.

HFS Contract Information:

• The student agrees to HFS Contract and the Terms, Conditions, and Regulations.
• The HFS Contract cannot be cancelled unless the student is no longer attending Penn State. All first-year students are required to live on campus as part of the offer of admission to Penn State.
• The HFS Contract is for the entire academic year, both fall and spring semesters, and summer session if the student is accepted for that session.
• A $100 non-refundable housing deposit is required when accepting the HFS Contract. The $100 housing deposit will be applied as a credit to the room rate charge on the first billing statement generated from the Office of the Bursar through LionPATH.
• Any preferences indicated on the HFS Contract are not guaranteed.
• View Housing and Food Rates.

After accepting the offer of admission through MyPennState, the student can then access the eLiving system to indicate housing preferences until the indicated deadline. 

• Login to eLiving
• Select Contracts > Update Preferences
• Click on the HFS Contract name
• Update HFS Contract preferences
  • Residence Area, Room Type
  • Roommate Request
  • Living Learning Community (LLC)
  • Campus Meal Plan level (defaults to level 1 for summer session, and level 2 for the academic year)

Preferences indicated on a student's HFS Contract are not guaranteed, as room assignments are processed in random order. Preferences indicated will be used when a room assignment is processed, but the student may not be assigned to a requested housing area due to space limitations.

Residence Area: 

Academic Year: You may indicate a preference for a housing area. First-year students will be assigned to any of the housing areas (North, South, East, West, or Pollock). 

Summer Session: all students will be assigned to East Halls. 

Room Type:

Academic Year: The majority of students will be assigned to a double room, traditional residence hall or a double room, renovated residence hall. Other options include a quad (4-person/1-room), renovated residence hall; triple (3-person/1-room), renovated residence hall; triple (either 3-person/1 room or 3-person/2-rooms), traditional residence hall); two-bedroom/four-person North Halls suite; and supplemental housing. There are limited single-occupancy rooms available, and generally reserved to accommodate a student who requires a housing accommodation. 

Summer Session: Students will be assigned to a double room, renovated residence hall. A limited number of quad (4-person/1-room), renovated residence hall are available.

Roommate Preferences:

Penn State does not utilize a survey to match roommates; Penn State values diversity in its student population and feels strongly that a living with other students from different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnic groups serves to enhance the college experience. The Housing Assignment Office does not have access to ethnic, racial, religious, or any other similar information about students that could have a detrimental influence on our process.

A student may indicate another student as a roommate request. Roommate requests must be mutual, and the Housing Assignment Office will assign students together within the established policies for roommate requests.

To indicate a roommate request, enter the student's Penn State Access ID (example, abc1234). Roommate requests for the 2026 Summer Session may be modified in eLiving until noon:

• Summer Session: June 1
• Academic Year: June 15

If a roommate request is not indicated, the Housing Assignment Office will random assign another first-year student in the space. 

Living Learning Community (LLC) Preferences:

Academic Year: University Housing offers Living Learning Communities (LLCs) as an opportunity for students with common interests and goals to live and learn together. Living Learning Communities are coed and open to all residents and there is NO additional fee to participate. Students are not required to select an LLC option. Please note, some LLCs require a secondary application to the sponsoring College.

Summer Session: LLCs are not offered during summer.

Campus Meal Plan Level Selection:

Academic Year: The Campus Meal Plan offers three levels, with each level providing different amounts of dining dollars. Dining dollars are what you will use to purchase meals in on-campus dining facilities. The HFS Contract will default to level 2, and can be modified until the last day of finals. 

Summer Session: The Campus Meal Plan offers one level during the summer. 

Room assignments will be posted in eLiving on the date announced on the first-year student housing page. 

Once room assignments are posted, students may use the Room Exchange eBoard to "swap" assignments with other students during the advertised timeframe indicated on the first-year student housing page, unless notified that the eBoard is not available or an option based on a student's HFS Contract.