Students must join residential learning communities
Housing applications for the coming academic year are open, with a return to the system introduced last year amid complaints from students and parents.
Housing applications are free and students who accept housing assignments must pay a $150 advance room payment. In the past, students had to pay that up front with no guarantee of a housing assignment. Only about 1,000 beds were set aside for returning students last year, down from 1,800 the year before.
Housing applications are due by Dec. 3. The application timeline was moved up last year to ensure that upperclassmen who do not get a housing assignment have ample time to find off-campus apartments and houses.
The application is also directed toward students who wish to live in residential learning communities. All students who wish to apply for housing must apply to live in one of these 17 communities, but only one application may be completed. There was a general learning community available to students last year, but that is not an option this year. There is a new community available to students who are still undecided about their career path and field of study called the Major and Career Exploration Community.
Other communities that have traditionally been a part of USC’s residence halls are the Carolina Women’s and Men’s Communities, the International House at Maxcy College and the Healthy Carolina Wellness Community.
The three residence halls that make up the Women’s Quad — McClintock, Sims and Wade Hampton — are expected to be open and ready for students to move in by August, adding nearly 600 beds back into University Housing. The three buildings, which date back between 54 and 74 years, will be connected into a true quad. Wade Hampton and McClintock, which were built as hall-style buildings in the 1950s, will be converted into suite-style residence halls. Instead of sharing a communal bathroom, personal bathrooms will be shared between pairs of rooms.
The Women’s Quad renovation project is expected to cost $27.2 million upon the completion of construction and began in May. It is expected to be finished this summer.