Henley Hall's basement was brimming with tension. Prospective roommates huddled in packs, praying they’d be able to stick together in an available apartment, or — in a stroke of luck — even pick their top residence hall.
April 1 marked the roll out of the 2025-2026 housing selection process where students gathered in-person to select their preferred housing for the upcoming school year in the Henley Hall basement.
The Panther asked Chapman students on Instagram: “Did housing selection go as you wanted it to?” Out of 168 respondents, 36% reported yes and 64% reported no.
This year’s housing selection process introduced several changes. The 2024-2025 freshman class begins the new requirement for students to live in Chapman housing until the end of their third year. Historically, Orange residents have complained about disturbances from the students and overcrowding in the community. An additional year in Chapman housing could quell pushback from the city by containing student-living to strictly on-campus.
Additionally, the extended housing requirement could be a factor in President Danielle C. Struppa’s plan to close Chapman’s $25 million budget deficit.
To further encourage students to continue living on campus, upperclassmen could renew their housing to remain in the same residence, rather than needing to potentially move to a different dorm.
The housing selection process itself has undergone a transformation.
The priority for housing selection appointments is now based on seniority. Seniors received the earliest slots starting on April 1, and freshmen received later slots toward April 9.
Freshman business administration major Samantha Chang said that this doesn’t make sense, considering rising sophomores are required to stay on campus whereas seniors are not.
“What seniors want to live in campus residence halls anyways?” said Chang.
Students are required to submit a $500 deposit to secure their housing selection time slot. This year, the deposit was due March 3. This hinders upperclassmen wanting off-campus housing by monopolizing them into likely losing that money if they find a house, according to Emma Gallo, a sophomore business administration major.
“The deposit is really excessive, especially because it has to be paid so far in advance,” said Gallo. “I think the deposit amount could easily be a lot lower, and the deadline could be later in the year so that we could have more time to figure out our plans.”
Additionally, freshman communications studies major Kayla Squire said that if she knew that the Chapman Grand apartments would have been unavailable by their time slot, she would have not signed up for Chapman housing and petitioned to get out of it.
Gallo said that the process seems outdated and inefficient, having heard many students complain about waiting over an hour just to pick their room.
Under the current system, students struggle to get their necessary accommodations met. For example, housing disability services did not respect Emma Kochenderfer, freshman computer science and theatre double major, in her need for accommodations amid housing selection.
“They tended to take a while to reply and made several claims that are false according to federal and state laws,” said Kochenderfer. “When I tried to address this with them, they would quit replying or be rude, making me feel like they didn't care about me as a student and didn't take my concerns seriously.”
Kochenderfer even thought about transferring after dealing with the housing selection process.
The strain on Chapman’s housing selection is not new. This has been an ongoing issue for students, regardless of class size or housing availability.
