Residence Options

A big thing I was looking forward to in college was living on my own and having my own place to call my “home” for the next four years of my life. 

Prior to coming to college, I wish I knew more about my living options, so in this post I’ve put together a little summary of the different residence halls you can live in and different apartments and locations you can sign after your freshman year! 

Freshman Year: Residence Halls 

Residence halls are categorized as either university housing or private certified housing.

University Housing

University housing has 24 different units scattered throughout campus. “Urbana North” residence halls are all located within a 1o minute walk to the Quad and include specialty restaurants in their dining halls. “Urbana South” is a little further away, but conveniently is right next to multiple bus routes that can take you anywhere around campus! The Ikenberry Commons, or more commonly known as the “Six Pack,” is where a large population of our freshmen live and houses a large dining hall facility shared by all the residence halls surrounding it.

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Wassaja Hall, the newest addition to University Housing residence halls

Private Certified Housing (PCH)

There are 11 different PCH units around campus. These halls are privately owned but approved by the university. PCH offers dining plans and a more suite-style layout. Depending on what you are looking for, some PCH halls are religiously affiliated, some have private suite-style bathrooms, and each hall is located in a unique area so you can find one which best suits your taste!

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Courtesy of Private Certified Housing

Sophomore Year & Beyond

After freshman year, you are free to choose to live wherever you want! You can continue living in university housing and PCH units, or you can move into your own apartment! The resource I found the most helpful in my apartment searches is the Housing Fair that is held in the Illini Union. Realtor companies set up booths and give students information on the different locations they own, pricing, amenities, etc. It is a great way to gain a lot of general information about the apartment options that are available to you around campus!


Finding the right place to live can be overwhelming at times, but there are lots of resources out there to help you find the best fit for you! Living in a new location every year has been a great experience for me, and I’ve loved every bit of it. And I hope you, too, can find a place you can call home here at Illinois!

Kripa

Kripa

Class of 2020
I'm majoring in Psychology, minoring in Spanish, and pursuing a pre-dental track. It seems like I’m all over the place, but that’s what I like about college! I get to choose to study what I’m interested in, and I’m happy to be doing just that at Illinois.

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