As of July 1, 2016, Santa Clara University's Housing Office manages all University owned student rental properties. These properties are referred to as neighborhood units. This list of frequently asked questions has been compiled to provide information related to the transition.
Proposed 2025-2026 rates will be posted in February, 2025. Keep in mind, our rates include all utilities with the exception of cable and internet.
Our rates include all utilities with the exception of cable and internet.
The Housing Office manages the following houses
The University decided to make this change for several reasons. This change demonstrates to students and parents, as well as neighbors, that Santa Clara University will have greater oversight for these units, will provide students with a consistent on-line application and contracting process for both on-campus and neighborhood units, and will provide a timely maintenance response process. The University's direct management of the neighborhood units will also allow students to save with 9-month contracts instead of being bound to a 12-month lease. This change will also allow students and their parents to take advantage of a variety of payment plans offered by the Bursar's Office while also allowing students and their parents to assess housing charges against their tax exempt 529 college savings plans.
Students with either Junior or Senior standing are eligible to apply to live in the Neighborhood Units. The first priority of renting will go to current residents and second priority will be allocated based on application timestamp. Those applying as part of a group will have their dates/times of application averaged. The neighborhood units will not be an option for students with first-year or sophomore standing by the Fall.
Returning Neighborhood Unit Residents
NU residents who were approved and planning to live in their current NU for the 2025-2026 academic year will be considered returning residents, and will have priority to be placed. The NU returner application opens on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 9:00AM. All returning NU residents must complete the application by Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 50% of the residents must return to the same unit to be considered a returner applicant and to receive priority. In addition, pull-in students for returner groups must complete their application when the application for new applicants opens on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
New Neighborhood Unit applicants
The application for new Neighborhood Unit applicants opens Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 9:00AM. All eligible students wishing to live in an NU must complete the application in order to be considered for a 2025-2026 Neighborhood Unit. Your entire application group will need to complete the OCHO program (more information on dates to come and will be emailed out to all new NU applicants). If you have general questions or concerns please reach out to neighborhoodambassadors@scu.edu. If you previously attended OCHO programs, they will count for the Neighborhood Unit
The 2025-2026 term of the NUUHC for NU Students begins on the Saturday preceding the first day of class for Fall Quarter and ends at 12:00PM on the Sunday following undergraduate commencement.
If you have applied to return to your Neighborhood unit for the 2025-2026 academic year and have been approved, you may request to remain in your unit for Summer 2025. However, if you are not returning to your unit for the 2025-2026 academic year, you must move out at the end of the Spring 2025 term.
It is also important to note that if you cancel your 2025-2026 academic year contract, you will not be able to stay for Summer 2025.
As a resident of a Neighborhood Unit, you will not sign or be bound to a group lease for the entire unit. Instead, residents will sign individual housing contracts per bed space within the Neighborhood Unit
If a resident within a Neighborhood Unit is granted a cancellation of their housing contract, the Housing Office will afford the remaining residents 3 days, from the date of the previous roommate's move out date, to find a new roommate. If the current residents of the Neighborhood Unit are unable to find a new roommate, the Housing Office will reserve the right to place a new student in the unit.
For cancellation requests that are not due to withdrawing from the University for the Fall 2025, will follow the below schedule. Failure to cancel by May 1, 2025 will result in a loss of deposit and added cancellation fees (See Cancellation Page). Please note this does not include any damage billing.
A security deposit will not be a requirement when applying for the neighborhood units. Instead, as a part of the application, students will submit a $500.00 housing prepayment deposit, which will then be applied to the Fall 2025 quarter's room charge. As with on-campus housing, if a resident is determined to be responsible for damages or extra cleaning at the end of the contract, these costs will be charged to the resident's student account.
All Neighborhood Units will be provided the Apartment residential dining plan for the academic year. Points will be distributed quarterly to the student's ACCESS card/mobile credential.
The size and number of bedrooms within each Neighborhood Unit varies.
Single and double rooms as well as designed single rooms and triples are available throughout the entire inventory of Neighborhood Units. Through the application process, students applying for the Neighborhood Units can designate whether to use a room as a single or double, and will subsequently be billed the appropriate room rate. Rooms that have been designated by the Housing Office as designed singles, can only be used as single occupancy rooms.
As was noted above, all room & board charges for your individual housing contract will be conveniently posted on a quarterly basis to your student account and are due accordingly.
Yes. Financial aid and scholarships can be applied towards room charges for the Neighborhood Units.
Yes. 529 College Savings Plans can be used to cover the cost of Neighborhood Unit room and board charges.
Yes. If you apply to live within a Neighborhood Unit and your roommate agrees to pay the single rate for the Fall 2025 quarter, we'll hold a space within the room for you. When you return for Winter 2026, you and your roommate will each be billed the double rate for the room. Of course, this scenario can only work in rooms that can be utilized as both singles as well as doubles. Within the application, both you and your roommate will need to indicate that you have agreed to this arrangement and your roommate will also need to confirm that they understand that they will be billed the single rate for the Fall 2025 term.
At this time, air conditioning units of any kind will not be permitted within any of the Neighborhood Units.
The Neighborhood Units are not furnished.
Residents of the Neighborhood Units may bring their own purchased lofts so long as the loft furniture was designed to be a bunk bed or a lofted bed. Residents are NOT permitted to build their own lofts. Lofts may not be attached to any physical structures within the Neighborhood Unit.
Residents living in a Neighborhood Unit are able to submit an on-line maintenance request through their housing portal. For more immediate facilities issues, residents will be able to call either the Housing Office or an after hours number to have the issue addressed. Regardless of the situation, maintenance issues will be resolved in a timely and appropriate manner by the University.
Due to health and sanitary regulations, students & guests are not to bring pets inside the neighborhood units at any time. Fish that are living in containers that have a volume capacity of less than five gallons are permitted.
A parking permit to park at the Neighborhood Units will not be required. However, if residents of a particular unit find that there is not enough space to conveniently park all of the vehicles of the residents of the unit, residents may choose to purchase an "O" class permit through Transportation Services. The O permit is designed for residents who live in surrounding neighborhoods. Learn more about O permits through Transportation Services.
Mail at the Neighborhood Units will not be managed by Mailing Services/Campus Post Office nor by the University. Residents of the Neighborhood Units should use the physical address of their respective unit as the mailing address.
If you are locked out between 8AM – 5PM, Monday through Friday, you would come to the Housing Office to obtain a temporary key. If you are locked out during non-business hours, or during the weekend, you would call Campus Safety Services and a CSS staff member will let you into your space. Individual locks are installed on bedroom doors and a key is issued to the resident assigned to that bedroom.
In conjunction with the Santa Clara Police Department, Campus Safety Services will patrol the Neighborhood Units and provide a response when needed or appropriate. This additional presence by Campus Safety Services will enhance the living environment for everyone living in the neighborhoods that surround the University.
The management of Neighborhood Units by the Housing Office will not have an impact on any student who is a member of a sorority or fraternity. All Neighborhood Units will be rented through the process that has been outlined. If members of a sorority or fraternity choose to apply to reside within a Neighborhood Unit, in any particular year, they may and are certainly welcome to do so. However, no Neighborhood Unit will be designated as belonging to a particular sorority or fraternity for the long-term.
You must be an enrolled student, taking classes at SCU, in order to continue to reside in a Neighborhood Unit. If you will be reducing your unit load below the full time status (12 units per quarter), make sure to reach out to the Housing Office as soon as possible. It will also be important to note that you will need to stay in good judicial standing with the University.
Move in dates and times for the 2025-2026 Academic year will be shared in August 2025, prior to move in.