As I mentioned my daughter will be a senior at UWEC this fall. She signed up for her dorm room from last year in February and got it. There could be a change in policy but in the past upper class students were guaranteed housing if they sign up by the deadline, in February as I recall. I’m not aware of a policy change. In the past it has been freshman who have been put in nearby motels near upper campus, not downtown, with shuttles. Frequently they are moved to a dorm 2nd semester. If she decides to attend, I would just make sure to get the housing deposit in as early as possible.
As for the textbooks, generally the main textbook can be rented for free. Supplementary texts need to be purchased. Generally if a book costs more than $50-$60 it can be rented though my daughter has had a few exceptions to that. My son, a CS/math double major probably only spent $300 or so over his 4 years on books. But he essentially had all his social science/humanities GE requirements satisfied by AP scores when he entered. English, history, education and other majors with a lot of supplemental books will need to spend more. My daughter will be spending about $300 for books this fall as upper division classes often don’t have a main textbook.