Contracts Explained

The Housing and Residence Life contract is similar to an apartment lease, but with some key differences.

First, the contract is for a FULL academic year. This means that the contract begins in the Fall the Friday before classes begin. The contract ends the day after Finals in the Spring semester. Unlike a normal lease, we do not do month to month arrangements.

We do not release students from a housing contract for any reason other than the following:

• Academic dismissal or suspension.
• Approved academic, off-campus programs (such as study abroad, student teaching, or distance internships)
• Medical reasons, the student must provide medical documentation of why student housing is no longer meeting his/her health needs
• Called to military service.
• International student visa status revocation.
• Change in personal finances. This requires extensive documentation of the changes in personal finances. Successful examples include termination or layoff from employment of a parent, extreme change to financial aid, or significant loss of income not due to employment (such as through a divorce, loss in the family, etc.)
• Graduation! (we never mind releasing a student from contract for this reason!)

We can only discuss the contract with the student unless the student expresses a desire to include parents or family in writing.

We do offer Spring Only contracts for students who are beginning at IU South Bend in the Spring semester. We do NOT offer Fall Only contracts.

Summer contracts are different and are offered in the Spring to current residents. New students who would like to begin living in housing during the summer months, should make an appointment to meet with the Director. That can be accomplished most easily by emailing living@iusb.edu.

Payment

Contracts are secured with a $200 prepayment. This is paid to the Bursar's Office and submitted with the contract. This is NOT a deposit. The $200 is applied directly to the first semester's housing charges.

We bill for housing with the Bursar's Office and time it to coincide with Financial Aid and loan disbursements. It is important to know that we bill for one semester at a time. The charges that will appear on the student's bill will only be for one semester. We bill for the second semester in January. Again, this is to coincide with loan and aid disbursement.

We periodically run checks to see how much has been paid. Students who are far behind in payments will receive reminders to pay. Additionally, be aware that not paying housing charges may lead to holds being placed on the student's account which would prevent him or her for registering for classes. Students who are significantly behind in payments in late November (or March in the spring semester) may face removal from housing. We attempt to avoid this as much as possible, but non-payment means an inability to register for classes and therefore an ineligibility to live in student housing.