Residency Requirement Exemption Request

Application At-A-Glance

The Request for Residency Exemption is a request to live off-campus for students still required to live on campus in accordance with the university's three-year residency requirement. The request asks for some demographic information for our records, the type of exemption request, a personal narrative and supporting documentation that can be uploaded to the request.

Residency Exemption Process Flowchart

Application Available

Requests will be available on February 1 in Housing Central. Students submitting their enrollment deposit after February 1 will typically have access to the application within two business days.

Priority Deadline

Students should complete their Request for Residency Exemption no later than April 1^st in order to receive a decision prior to the first round of the housing selection process taking place in April to avoid any cancellation fees.

Decisions

It is not unusual for it to take 2-3 weeks to review requests for exemptions to the residency requirement. Students may appeal an exemption decision if they feel that they have a compelling and individual circumstance that requires them to live off-campus.  Appeals can be submitted in writing to the Executive Director of Residential Living and Learning within one week of the date the decision email is sent to the student. An appeal must provide additional information and cannot be based solely on disagreement with the decision.

Financial Considerations

Requesting a residency exemption is an important financial decision. Students should review the Housing Agreement section VI. Cancellation and Refund Information to understand and anticipate any fees associated with canceling their agreement to live off campus.  

We also strongly encourage students to speak with the Financial Aid Office to fully understand how living off campus can impact their eligibility for aid. Housing costs are included in the overall expense of attending Stetson, which is used to calculate students' financial aid needs. If the housing costs are reduced/removed, this could affect the amount of aid you are eligible to receive. 

In addition, a number of scholarships provide funds to cover the expense of residential housing. Living off campus may reduce these scholarship funds significantly. The following scholarships require recipients to live in Stetson residential housing in order to be eligible for the scholarship:

• Presidential Fellows
• Stetson Entourage
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholars
• Honors Scholars

Please be sure to reach out to Financial Aid to discuss your desire to live off campus before submitting your Request for Residency Exemption.

Other Applications

We can accommodate most medical needs in on-campus housing. Students requesting to live off-campus for medical or mental health reasons should consider submitting a Medical and Special Needs Accommodation Request.