Radius Policy FAQs | Campus Residences

Radius Policy | Important Information

Undergraduate and Graduate students have separate housing agreements and are housed in different areas of campus. The radius policy is determined separately for these populations.

First-Year Students

Due to the opening of our newest residential community, Seawolves Village, we do not anticipate implementing a radius policy for new first-year students. First-year students, regardless of home address, will be able to apply and select rooms as part of our standard processes. If there is a sudden increase in demand beyond capacity, shortly after the May 1 deposit deadline, individuals will be notified if we need to implement a radius policy. See additional details below.

New Graduate Students

New graduate students, regardless of home address, can apply and select rooms as part of our standard processes. Graduate housing utilizes timeslots so that those with a farther away home address select first. In the event we have no spaces available, students with a farther home address from campus will be assigned first as cancellations are received.

New Transfer Students

New transfer students can pay the housing deposit by May 1 to indicate interest in on-campus housing, but they are not prioritized to live on campus. Spaces are assigned to new transfers based on undergraduate student cancellations. Students with a farther home address from campus will have priority for housing.

Frequently Asked Questions

The increased enrollment at Stony Brook is a testament to our rise in reputation as a world-class academic institution where students from all backgrounds are welcomed and supported throughout their college journey. If we see an unexpected increase in demand for on-campus housing around the deposit deadline and a radius policy has to be implemented, new students whose home address is within a certain distance from campus may be restricted from housing until space permits. The radius will be no more than 30 miles (direct line) or less to 100 Circle Rd, Stony Brook, NY 11790. If Campus Residences cannot provide housing, your housing deposit will be refunded.

The actual radius distance (if any) will be determined then based on housing demand.
If one is implemented after the May 1 deposit deadline (May 15 for graduate students) and no later than June 30, Campus Residences will determine whether the radius policy needs to be implemented and to what distance. Students will be notified if this policy will impact them.
- New first-year students will be informed between May 15 and June 15.
- New graduate students will be informed between May 31 and June 30.
- New transfer students do not have priority to on-campus housing. Spaces are granted based on cancellations of other undergraduate students. New transfer students with a farther home address from campus will have priority for housing.
The distance will be based on housing demand. Campus Residences can only predict if and how far the radius policy will be implemented after housing deposits are made by May 1 for new first-year and new transfer students and by May 15 for new graduate students.
Students who are impacted will be notified by reside@stonybrook.edu no later than June 30 whether the radius policy impacts them. If one is not needed, students will be notified as soon as possible after deposit deadlines. Emails are sent to your active email address in SOLAR. This may be your personal email that you applied to Stony Brook University with or your Stony Brook University email. We highly recommend checking both regularly.
Students who submitted their housing deposit will have it refunded to their student account and be added to a priority waitlist. We will request that Student Financial Services process a deposit credit. Student Financial Services will determine how it gets applied to a student’s account. It can be refunded as credits applied to the student account or may be posted to outstanding balances. Please note that the refund can take up to 5 weeks to appear on students’ accounts.
If a radius policy is enforced, additional information will be provided to those impacted with any potential reasons for appeal and the process of submitting one. This process will occur immediately upon notice of being impacted by the radius policy (anticipated June). We will not consider a request to be an exception to the policy until after the policy is implemented and impacted individuals are notified.
The University is actively working on solutions to accommodate as many students as possible while still maintaining a safe and secure environment. We have increased room occupancy to provide economy rooms with lofted and/or bunked beds creating economy four-person, three-person, and two-person rooms.

In addition, several campus housing contruction projects are currently underway to address housing demand.

Additionally, we are implementing incentives and measures to increase earlier cancellations from students who do not need housing so we can house students who intend to live on campus.

Additionally, we are utilizing temporary tripling on a limited basis.
If you place a deposit and submit an application, but are later notified we cannot house you due to the radius policy being implemented, you do not need to join a waitlist for the current year. You will be placed on a priority waitlist before our general waitlist. This priority waitlist will place students in order from the farthest to the closest distance to campus.
Impacted individuals will be notified that they have been placed on the priority waitlist and will need to confirm their interest in campus housing through the Housing Portal.

If assigned a space, individuals are notified from reside@stonybrook.edu of their assignment. Once assigned a space, any cancellation of agreements is subject to published cancellation fees.

If you remove yourself from the priority waitlist prior to an assignment, you will not be charged a cancellation fee and will no longer be eligible for priority housing this year or in future years.
We cannot predict if or when someone will receive their assignment. As cancellations come in over the summer, we will make assignments. Some assignments may be made in fall, over winter break, or early spring sememster.

If you are given an assignment, we encourage you to keep it as any cancellation of housing will impact your ability to receive housing during your time at Stony Brook University.
We hope to be able to assign all impacted students by the start of spring semester classes. If you do not receive housing this year, you will need to join the on-campus housing waitlist for the following year when it goes live in March. Please keep in mind that applying to the general waitlist does not guarantee housing.