Returning Student Housing Selection
Housing Selection Important Dates
Spring 2025 Housing Selection
- November 1 (7:00AM): Spring 2025 online Housing Application opens
- November 30 (11:59 PM): All accessibility accommodation requests for Spring 2025 due via online form
- December 1: Housing placement begins as vacancies for the spring term are reported and continue on a rolling basis
Fall 2025 - Spring 2026 Housing Selection
- February 18: Housing Selection Information Session - 5:00PM in PC Commons
- February 19: Housing Selection Information Session - 5:00PM in Surbeck Center - McKeel
- March 3: Lottery Numbers Emailed to returning SDM students required to live on campus (HS Grad 2024 or 2025)
- March 17 (7:00AM) - March 20 : Housing Application / Exemption window for Lottery Number Students (via the online Housing Application)
- March 20: All returning student accessibility accommodation requests for 2025-2026 due via online form
- March 24 (7:00AM): Housing Application opens to all other students
- New students (First Time Freshmen & New to Mines Transfer Students)
- Upperclass Students (Returners & Grad Students)
- March 31: Lottery Student and Rocker Square Housing placement emails begin and continue on a rolling basis
- June 2: New Student Housing placement begins for all students with completed applications prior to June 2
- June 10: Assignment emails sent out for new students eligible for placement on June 2; all other assignments will be completed on a rolling basis
Housing Fee & Roommate Pairing
- All applications require a $100 housing application fee that must be paid to be assigned a housing placement and can be paid online with credit/debit card or with cash/check in Student Accounts Office.
- The application fee must be submitted for payment by Sunday, March 23 at 11:59PM to guarantee placement with matched roommate(s).
- If you miss the deadline, your application will remain open but "incomplete" for 30 days, with multiple reminder emails, before being deactivating completely at the 30-day mark. Housing will not be assigned or spaces held without payment or if an application has been deactivated.
- Any student who does not pay the housing application fee prior to the March 23 deadline and still has an "incomplete" application during placements will temporarily forfeit their ability to be placed (and lottery ranking if assigned a number) and will not be placed when completing housing assignments. As soon as the application fee is paid and processed by the Student Accounts Office, the applicant will be eligible for housing placement within the remaining openings in campus housing at that time.
- Students may request to live together on the housing application (as a group). Most housing is in groups of 2 to 4 - we recommend creating a group of 4 for your housing application.
- Students with no matched roommates will be placed into any openings or together.
- To be assigned together as a group, all students must be listed on all applications and ALL parties must have paid the fee at the time the group's placement is made.
- Spaces in roommate groups will not be held for any unpaid applicants as their application is "incomplete" at the time and their lottery number (even if the lowest) will not be used for their group. If a space in a roommate group's assigned location happens to still be available when unpaid applications change to paid, the matched roommate MAY be placed into that opening.
Accessibility Accommodations
In limited circumstances, the University approves students for housing accommodations. Students requesting any accessibility housing accommodation should contact the Office of Accessibility Services at amanda.lopez@sdsmt.edu or call 605-394-2533. The deadline for returning South Dakota Mines students to submit a request for accommodation for Fall 2025 housing is March 23, 2025 at 11:59PM.
Returning Students Required to Live On Campus for 2025-2026
Per South Dakota Board of Regents policy, all students who graduated from high school in 2024 or 2025 are required to live on campus during the 2025-2026 academic year (unless a housing exemption has been applied for and approved; re-request annually) and are guaranteed housing for the 2025-2026 academic year. Current (returning) students who graduated from high school in 2024 or 2025 will go through the Lottery Student placement process, outlined below. Housing Applications for students new to the School of Mines (new students, transfer students, etc.) that are submitted before June 2, 2025 will be in the first round of placements with assignments sent to student email accounts in June 2025.
Lottery Housing Selection Details:
- All current students required to live on campus for Fall 2025 must submit a housing application or exemption request between March 17-20.
- Lottery numbers are issued to all returning students required to live on campus for the 2025-2026 academic year. These lottery numbers are randomly assigned and will be sent to student email accounts on March 2, 2025.
- Students may request to live together on the housing application (as a group). Most housing is in groups of 2 to 4 - we recommend creating a group of 4 for your housing application.
- To be assigned as a group, all students must be listed on all applications and ALL parties must have paid the fee. Any members of the group with unpaid fees will not have a space held within their preferred roommate group during placement as their application is "incomplete" at the time.
- Housing assignments will be assigned using the random lottery numbers assigned. Assignments are made starting with the lowest lottery numbers (1, 2, 3, ...426). For a group, assignments will be based on the lowest lottery number within the group.
Available Lottery Student Housing Options
The below spaces may be available as part of the 2025-2026 lottery number housing selection process. Please note, the application will show Rocker Square II housing as an option for Lottery number students to rank in their preferences. Placement in the Rocker Square II building for second year students is not guaranteed and will only be used if essential, and at the discretion of Residence Life. In the event spaces in Rocker Square II need to be used to house second year students, lottery groups (starting with the lowest number 1, 2, 3... and having ranked Rocker II as their top selection) will be contacted and offered an opportunity to be assigned there.
- Placer Hall Double Suites (2 double bedrooms w/ living room & bath)
- Placer Hall Single Suites (4 single bedrooms w/ living room & bath)
- Placer Hall Mixed Suites (1 double bedroom and 2 single bedrooms w/ living room & bath)
- Peterson Hall Study Quads
- Peterson Hall Quads
- Connolly Hall Male Doubles (if all other spaces are full)
- Connolly Hall Singles if not needed for accommodations (standard single room designed for 1 resident)
Returning Student Housing Exemption Information
Per South Dakota Board of Regents policy, all students who have graduated from high school in the past two years are required to live in campus housing. Current students who are required to live on campus for 2025-2026 may apply for an exemption from this policy by March 23, 2025 at 11:59PM. Any exemption requests after this deadline will only be reviewed for major life events (marriage, a new dependent, etc.) or ADA accommodations that cannot be met. Approved exemption requests after the deadline will be subject to forfeiture of the housing application fee as well as assessed buy-out costs as identified in the housing agreement. In general, housing exemptions are granted only for the following reasons: living in approved Greek Life housing, living at the primary address of a parents or guardians in the area, living with a spouse, or living with dependent children. More information about the exemption policy can be found online. Questions may be directed to the Residence Life Office.
Upperclass Housing: Rocker Square I & Rocker Square II
Rocker Square Apartments spaces will be limited for Fall 2025.
Upper-class housing (available to students who graduated from high school before January 2024) is available in Rocker Square I and Rocker Square II apartments for the 2025-2026 academic year, with additional spaces in traditional halls if available Rocker Square Apartments are full and all students graduating High School 2024-2025 have been placed. The online housing application for these spaces is available and accepting new applications on a rolling basis. As we are required to accommodate all first and second year students, housing spaces are very limited for Fall 2025 and will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. Any student who applies, but does not receive an assignment will automatically be added to the upperclass housing waitlist.
Groups of students must submit applications within 48-hours of each other to ensure they are assigned together. Learn more about Rocker Square I and Rocker Square II by visiting the Residence Halls web page. Housing rates are available online here. All applications require a $100 housing application fee. The fee must be paid before housing is assigned (online or at the Student Accounts Office). Total spaces in the apartments typically include:
- Rocker Square II 4-Bedroom Apartments (4 single bedrooms)
- Rocker Square II 2-Bedroom Apartment (2 single bedrooms)
- Rocker Square I 4-Bedroom Apartments (4 single bedrooms)
- Rocker Square I 2-Bedroom Apartments (2 single bedrooms)
For those interested in off campus housing general information sessions, they will be posted in Rocker Central for November 20, January 28, and March 4.
Gender Inclusive Housing:
Inclusive housing is available in all returning student housing areas and must be indicated on their housing application. All occupants must agree to the terms below on the housing application to be eligible for Gender Inclusive Housing. Housing in Gender Inclusive spaces is not guaranteed and is a preference.
- Roommates may be requested on the housing application.
- If roommates are not listed on the housing application, the student will be placed with others who have selected this option, regardless of gender.
- Students required to live on campus and assigned lottery numbers will be assigned in lottery order and groups with roommates will be placed based on the group’s lowest lottery number.
- Upperclass students without lottery numbers will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis.
- If a bed space becomes available in a gender inclusive room, the following may occur:
- Roommates may have the opportunity to bring in a new roommate, who must also agree to live in the gender inclusive space
- Residence Life may assign a roommate who agrees to live in gender inclusive housing
- Residence Life may reassign roommates to new housing to return the original room to gender specific housing
- Students must be 18 years old or older to live in Gender Inclusive Housing.
- Students understand and agree that they are entering into this decision on their own accord. Students are responsible for communicating their choices to any invested partners, friends, or family.
- The University does not recommend and discourages students in a relationship from living together. Remember, relationship challenges or break-ups may pose significant housing issues and new or different accommodations are not guaranteed.