Open Housing FAQs

Open Housing (OH) allows for same gender, opposite gender, or other gender identities to live together regardless of birth sex. This housing option provides an environment where student housing is not restricted by traditional gender limitations. OH is reflective of the housing choices/opportunities available to students who live off-campus, where they select their roommate of choices irrespective of birth sex. Placements in OH are available for students who are looking for a mixed gender on-campus environment and for whom the traditional same-gender room assignments are not ideal or preferred.

In keeping with our efforts to be inclusive and welcoming of all students, the OH option is currently open to any student who has requested it as part of their application for housing. Students have expressed interest to administration to allow roommate requests and pairings beyond the traditional same-gender paradigm.

On the Housing application, select “YES” to opt into Open Housing. Be sure to also fill in the information about your gender. If you have roommates you want to live with, they will need to opt in to Open Housing as well.

OH assignments are offered in all housing areas of campus and can be utilized in any room type beginning Fall 2024.

It is expected that most participants will have a specific individual(s) in mind to live with and depending on housing availability, mutual roommate requests for upper division students will be honored, pending, availability, regardless of gender. For those interested in OH who do not have a specific roommate in mind, you will be placed with another student who has indicated a similar desire to live in OH.

All participants will be expected to adhere to philosophies of respect and understanding. You are expected to be a positive member of the larger campus housing community the same way as any other resident.

Yes, students can request a room change at any time (note that there may be limitations depending on the time of year and the availability of space). If a roommate leaves the unit, the remaining residents will be consulted on whether the unit should continue to be designated Open Housing or change to a traditional same-sex unit before a new resident would be assigned (if applicable). Further, the Office of Residence Life and Housing reserves the right to designate units with openings as single gender at any time if needed. If there is a lack of interest in OH housing, you may be placed in a single gender suite, or your assigned suite may not be full.

Fall 2016 was the first year that OH was offered at UCCS. From that time, we have shown that between 15 to 25% of new applying students opt in to Open Housing. This is much higher than the 1 to 4 % national average back in 2016 when OH first started on campus.

Angela Storck, Associate Director of Housing Operations, can be contacted at housing@uccs.edu or at 719.255.4042.