Rights & Responsibilities

Revised: April 2026

Requirements & Appeals

Two-Year Residency Requirement

Incoming full-time first year students who have a primary address greater than 15 miles away from the East Falls Campus are required to live in University housing for their first two years of enrollment. A primary residence is defined as the permanent residence you live in with your Parent or Guardian, and/or the address that matches your official documentation for Financial Aid, Loans, FAFSA, Tax Forms, etc.

Students whose primary residence is within 15 miles of East Falls Campus can opt-in to the residency requirement by choosing to be admitted as a resident student their first semester. Transfer students are exempt from the two-year housing requirement.

First and second-year students who are under the residency requirement are guaranteed housing for their first two years. Juniors, seniors and graduate students, as well as transfer students, are not guaranteed housing.

Eligibility

We accept housing applications for full-time first and second-year Thomas Jefferson University - East Falls undergraduate students with 12 credits or more per semester. Failure to maintain 12 credits may lead to termination of the Housing Agreement at the discretion of the Office of Residential Life. Students who lose their eligibility must inform the Office Residential Life within two (2) business days and may be subject to cancellation charges.

When space allows, we accept applications for full-time rising juniors and seniors, transfer students, and full-time graduate students. However, we only guarantee housing to first and second-year students, and housing for other students is based entirely on supply and demand.

Appeals

Students may submit an Appeal for two purposes: to appeal their required participation in Thomas Jefferson University – East Falls’ Two-Year Residency Requirement, or to petition to be released from a signed contract.

Appeals to the Two-Year Residency Requirement will be considered for the following reasons:

• Students with a primary address within 15 miles of Thomas Jefferson University – East Falls
• Students who are or will be over the age of 20 at the beginning of this contract’s dates
• Military veterans
• Married students
• Students with legal dependents
• Extenuating financial circumstances, which requires documentation in the form of a report from Student Accounts or Financial Aid showing a significant change to financial circumstances
• Extenuating medical circumstances, which requires documentation from a medical provider that will be reviewed by Student Health Services and/or Student Accessibility Services.

Appeals that students submit to petition for a contract release will be considered for the following reasons:

• Upcoming military service
• Marriage, occurring after contract signature
• New legal dependents after contract signature
• Extenuating financial circumstances, which requires documentation in the form of a report from Student Accounts or Financial Aid showing a significant change to financial circumstances
• Extenuating medical circumstances, which requires documentation from a medical provider that will be reviewed by Student Health Services and/or Student Accessibility Services. 

For approved appeals that release a student from their contract after the contract dates have started, we follow the Tuition Refund Schedule for housing refunds, and also prorate meal plan refunds by the day.

Students who live on campus in the fall semester and study away during the spring semester are not required to appeal.

Students who wish to appeal after signing the contract should email tju_ef_reslife@jefferson.edu with supporting documentation. All appeals are reviewed by at least two staff members in the Office of Residential Life.