Housing
Visit the Cornell Housing and Residential Life website to learn about more about the different types of housing available here at Cornell.
View our Frequently Asked Questions about housing!
Read more about religious observance housing accommodations at Cornell.
What are disability-related housing accommodations?
A disability is defined as a condition that impacts one or more major life functions (such as walking, breathing, learning, hearing, thinking, etc.).
Examples of disability-related housing accommodations:
- A wheelchair-accessible room
- A ground floor room, or a room near an elevator
- Access to a private bathroom, or a low-use shared bathroom
- Strobe alarms in the room
What to know about Cornell housing
The residence halls on campus vary widely in features.
- Not all buildings have elevators.
- Most do not have air conditioning.
- Many are carpeted.
- Only some are newer buildings.
- Single-occupancy rooms are limited.
- Bathrooms are generally shared with other students in your suite or on your floor (numbers vary).
- Pets are not allowed (emotional support animals allowed by prior permission only).
Housing on campus is not guaranteed for juniors, seniors, or graduate/professional students. Approval of a disability-related housing accommodation does not grant priority to live on campus for those students.
If you have a religion-related housing request, visit Cornell's page on Religious Observance Accommodations to make that request.
Requesting Disability-Related Housing Accommodations
Step 1: Apply for Campus Housing
- For new Ithaca campus students: complete the Housing Application process outlined by Housing and Residential Life. You must do this to secure housing on campus, even if you need disability-related housing accommodations.
- For students not in Ithaca, follow the process for your program.
- If you currently live on campus, make sure you follow all housing directions and deadlines about securing a housing contract for the upcoming year. See "Important Info" below.
Step 2: Determine What to Request
- In order to make an informed disability accommodation request, learn about the different types of features available in Cornell housing. You will need to identify your specific disability-related housing needs.
Step 3: Request Disability-Related Housing Accommodations
- Complete the SDS Housing Accommodation Request Form and include all supporting information that you may have
Step 4: Await Communication from SDS
- Monitor your Cornell email for communication.
- If approved: Keep your approval email. You will need to refer back to it later.
- Ithaca undergraduate students: If your assigned housing does not meet your SDS-approved housing accommodations, refer to the next steps in your approval email.
Deadlines
It is best for us to receive complete information from you by a certain date in order to facilitate the accommodation process:
Newly-admitted freshmen and transfer students
- Fall admits: May 15
- Spring admits: December 15
Rising sophomores
- New and additional requests: February 1
- Students with current disability housing accommodations: see "Important Info" below
Rising Juniors/Seniors
- See "Important Info" below
Summer students
- May 31
Graduate and professional students:
- Housing options are limited. Start the registration process with our office as soon as you have confirmed your admission to Cornell.
After the deadline: If you make a disability-related housing accommodation request, we will still review it. However, at that point housing assignments may have already been finalized, or availability may be limited or even sold out.
If you are looking to continue existing housing disability accommodations, please see important info below for those timelines.
Important Info to Continue Housing Accommodations for Next Year
What You Need to Do
You should check your current accommodations by logging into SDS Online Services and clicking on "My Eligibility" on the left side of the webpage. Look under “Housing Accommodations” (you may need to scroll down).
If your listed accommodations meet your disability access needs:
- Submit the Residential Application via the Housing Portal and complete any other applicable steps with Housing and Residential Life.
- Please do not fill out any new request forms on the SDS website for housing.
If your listed accommodations do not meet your disability access needs, and you need to request new or additional accommodations:
- Complete the SDS Housing Accommodation Request Form and submit any relevant documentation.
- Submit the Residential Application via the Housing Portal and complete any other applicable steps with Housing and Residential Life.
What You Need to Know About On-Campus Housing for Sophomore Year
- Second year students are required to live on campus. Learn about the on-campus residential options for rising sophomores.
- All students, including those with SDS-approved housing accommodations, must complete the Residential Application via the Housing Portal. Housing and Residential Programs will be sending out several emails. Make sure to follow all the instructions and meet all the deadlines given.
- Information about the room selection process is available on the Housing & Residential Life website.
- Your currently approved housing accommodations carry over to your sophomore year (with the exception of Emotional Support Animal accommodations).
If you have any questions about your accessible housing for next year, please contact us as soon as possible. Please remember to monitor your emails for important messages and reminders regarding housing.
Steps for Using your Approved Housing Accommodations
- Housing and Residential Life will be sending out emails and has information on their website. Please review that information and your responsibilities carefully.
- Complete the Residential Application via the Housing Portal.
- You will not be placed ahead of room selection. Instead, you must self-select a room during the processes that are open to all students currently living on campus (same room selection, same area selection, and open room selection). See Housing and Residential Life’s website for dates.
- If your selected room does not meet your SDS-approved accommodations, you should follow up with Housing and Residential Life for support.
- On-campus housing is not guaranteed for juniors and seniors. If you do not secure a spot on campus through the room selection process, you will need to arrange to live off campus.
If Seeking New or Additional Disability-Related Housing Accommodations
- Submit your request to SDS at least three weeks prior to room selection. It takes us a few weeks to review requests submitted at the start of the semester.
- After room selection, certain housing options may be limited or unavailable. If you are approved after selection takes place, complete the Student Disability Services and Housing Accommodation Form so the Office of Housing and Residential Life can explore options with you.
Amenities offered in graduate/professional student housing is different than what was available in undergraduate housing. For example, all students in graduate housing have their own bedrooms. There are different air control options as well.
Due to the different amenities available, you may no longer need disability-related housing accommodations.
What you should do:
- Review the amenities of the graduate/professional student housing available at your program.
- If you will still need a disability-related housing, submit a new SDS Housing Accommodation Request Form.
If you are requesting to bring an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) to live with you on campus, or need to renew an ESA previously approved by Cornell University SDS, please review Emotional Support Animal page on our website for more information.
Unlike other disability-related housing accommodations, approval to have an ESA in campus housing has to be approved by SDS and renewed on a yearly basis. Approval does not carry over from one year to the next.
If you have been approved for this accommodation at Cornell before, SDS will reach out to you over the summer to see if you desire to renew that accommodation. Watch your Cornell email for communication and please follow up with any requests from our office for forms or information.