On-site Undergraduate Campus Residency Policy

Effective date: 7/1/2026
Contact: Student Life Office

All on-site undergraduate students are required to live on campus with a residential meal plan during fall and spring semesters, unless authorized by the Office of Student Life, except when meeting one or more of the following conditions:

• Residing with parent(s)/legal guardian(s) within approximately 30 miles of campus at their permanent residence in one of the designated zip codes [link to list of approved zip codes]
• 23 years of age prior to the first day of the academic semester
• Married and/or have children/legal dependents
• Transfer students who have earned 48 hours or more of college credit post-high school graduation from another institution prior to first-time enrollment at William Jewell.  

Undergraduate students seeking off-campus residency are required to submit the Off-campus Residency Request Form. Off-campus residency is confirmed after evaluation of the request form and written confirmation of authorized off-campus residency status from the college. Requests for off-campus residency are due July 1 for all students enrolling in the fall semester and December 1 for students enrolling for the first time in the spring semester.

Undergraduate students are assessed room and board fees until written confirmation of off-campus residency is confirmed by the College. Residence contracts initiated prior to day one of the fall semester are for the entirety of the academic year, both fall and spring semesters. Approval of an off campus living request does not supersede nor end the contract during or for any term.

William Jewell College reserves the right to adjust awarded institutional aid at any time. Approval to live off campus may result in an adjustment to awarded institutional aid. Institutional aid includes academic, department, athletic, and need-based dollars from William Jewell College. Tuition Remission is excluded from this recalculation. Students living on-campus who request to live off should consider the impact on their institutional aid with the Financial Aid Office before applying. The determination by the Financial Aid Office will be considered final, and individual departments may not override this decision. The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to determine the institutional funding based on extenuating circumstances.

The College makes every effort to accommodate roommate and residence hall placement requests. Applications with reciprocating roommate requests seeking placement in the same residence hall are more likely to be accommodated. Roommate assignments and building placement are the College’s discretion.

All residential students are required to have a residential meal plan. Students residing off-campus under 90 cumulative credit hours are required to have a commuter meal plan or may elect for a residential meal plan. Students with 90 or more cumulative credit hours may opt out of meal plan requirements. Exemption from meal plan requirements may be submitted via the Meal Plan Appeal Form.

Members of Greek organizations are required to live in their chapter house unless the house is at maximum occupancy. If at maximum occupancy, the organization will follow its, ‘house-fill,’ procedure to determine which members live in the house. Failure to comply with this policy will result in assessed full room and board fees, and/or loss of institutional aid. Because student’s financial award is based on information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the student (and student’s parent(s), if applicable), a student suspected of misreporting information to increase student aid eligibility or to fraudulently obtain federal funds will be reported to the U.S. Office of Inspector General.