<p>So a lot of colleges say they guarantee housing for all four years, but what about the students who take more than 4 years to graduate? Typically, do these students still get to live on campus or are they forced to find housing elsewhere? Can anyone speak for specific colleges? (mostly top caliber)</p>
<p>At MIT, students are guaranteed eight semesters of housing. If they take longer than eight semesters to graduate, they can petition to stay in the dorms, but I think most students who take more than eight semesters just choose to move to an apartment for the last semester or two.</p>
<p>If this is really important to you (i.e., not just asking out of curiosity), this would be a great question to direct to the housing departments of the schools you’re interested in. Something to consider: would you really want to live in the dorms for more than eight semesters? It seems like many students can’t wait to move into the own places as juniors and seniors, regardless of whether on-campus housing is still guaranteed to them.</p>
<p>This question is more important for urban colleges where rent outside of the university is a lot higher. Specifics for NYU: yes they guarantee housing for 4 years… if you don’t live within a certain distance AND you never leave the housing system. They also changed their policies recently, making staying in housing unattractive to upperclassmen (giving sophomores priority over seniors and juniors). The official tag line is that they are trying to encourage more community among the sophomore class.</p>
<p>if the university has more than enough housing for everyone who wants it, then even those who take longer to graduate will get housing on campus, otherwise they will be put in the lottery and may need to go off campus.</p>