To enhance the value of the student's experience and ensure a safe and secure transition to Fredonia, freshman (first-year student) and sophomores (second-year students) must live in residence halls. Juniors and seniors who attend SUNY Fredonia have two housing options. You can either live on campus in a residence hall or find an off campus apartment. In addition to these requirements, if you have been awarded a President's International Scholar Award (PISA) scholarship, you must reside in residents halls until you obtain senior (fourth-year student) status.
On Campus Housing
We know how important comfortable, safe and stimulating living accommodations are for the success of any college student. Group living is a valuable component of the overall college learning experience. Students gain a better understanding of themselves and their ideas, learn the values of community, and acquire a greater concern for and consideration of those around them. For these reasons SUNY Fredonia is committed to providing students with excellent living facilities conducive to adequate study and a fulfilling sense of community. There are thirteen residence halls on the SUNY Fredonia campus, including corridor and suite-style buildings. To take a virtual tour please visit the Office of Residence Life's Virtual Tour Page.
Housing Policies
All full-time students are eligible for on-campus housing, but only freshmen (first-year) and sophomores (second-year) are required to live on campus. Freshmen live in single-sex residence halls, while sophomores and up may choose to live in mixed male and female buildings. Housing male and females together in one room is not allowed.
Residence Halls
Freshmen are required to live on campus in one of the thirteen residence halls. But this is no hardship! Students get free Internet, free cable television, free local telephone service, free pick up and delivery of mail, and use of the free clothes washers and dryers. Besides all that, the residence halls are very safe because only students who live in the building can enter by swiping their FRED (SUNY Fredonia Identification) Card. All residence halls have a policy that requires guests to sign in after 9 p.m. A Resident Director, often referred to as the 'RD,' resides within the resident hall. The RD is assisted by Resident Assistants or "RA's." Resident Assistant are upper classmen students who live on the floors. They are a support network to assist you any time of the day.
Corridor-style rooms are two-person rooms located on a common corridor with common bathroom facilities for each hall. Each building also contains a recreation room equipped with cable television, a kitchen, tables, chairs and couches. Suites consist of four two-person bedrooms, a common room, and an apartment-style kitchen. All double rooms, whether corridor or suite-style, include 2 beds, 2 dressers, 2 desks, 2 closets, 1 mirror, 1 floor lamp, and 1 wastebasket. A cable television jack, 2 Ethernet outlets for computer Internet access, and 1 telephone jack for on-campus and local calls are also available in each room. Room telephones may be used for long-distance and international calls with the use of a personal identification number (PIN) provided to each student by the college. In addition to what these rooms include, seven of the thirteen residence halls are equipped with small computer labs for student use
The International Education Center will provide you with temporary bedding your first few nights at SUNY Fredonia, but you will want to buy pillows, bedding, and towels of your own once you get here.
For more information, please visit the Office of Residence Life. This office is responsible for all residence halls, Internet connections within residence halls, and other services.
Off Campus Housing
Although freshman and sophomore students are required to live on campus, juniors and seniors may choose to live off campus. The Student Association Office in the Williams Center can provide a listing of available rental units in the Fredonia area along with relevant information such as rent cost, landlords, deposit requirements, number of bedrooms, etc.
Also, the International Education Center can put you in contact with other international students who currently live off campus so you can ask them questions directly. Public bulletin boards located throughout campus may also be useful for finding local housing vacancies.
After you have found a prospective place to live, the next thing to do is to call the landlord and arrange an appointment to inspect the premises. You can ask more specific questions during your visit. Most students share a kitchen and bathroom with their housemates. The rent usually doesn't include heating, electricity or gas. This needs to be added to the cost so check with your landlord about this before you sign a contract.
According to our research, student rentals cost about $450 for a one bedroom apartment and $380 for a two bedroom apartment. The average cost of utilities for one month is below and it might change depending on location, landlord, utility company and weather: electricity $35, cooking gas $40, water $7, phone (local only) $18, cell phone $45, Internet $20, cable $65, heating (only winter) $100.