Uriah Barzola

Freshmen officially moved into their dorms starting the 25th, an event University Housing calls “Unpack the Quack.” The University of Oregon campus was filled with families, Resident Assistants and University Housing employees, all helping 4,617 freshmen move into their new homes for the 2025-2026 school year. (Uriah Barzola/Emerald)

As housing registration began for next school year, University of Oregon Housing ushered in a new, lottery-based system for
first-year and returning students.

Previously, housing selection operated on a first-come, first-served basis, with students who confirmed acceptance to UO earlier having the earliest pick of dormitories.

The new system is broken down into three registration groups. Within each group, the order in which students select rooms is determined by lottery — but Group 1 still gets priority selection over Group 3.

Group 1 consists of students who register by Feb. 28, Group 2 are students who registered from March 1 to May 1 and Group 3 is anyone who registered for housing on or after May 2.

“It’s not like every student is randomly assigned; it’s still within those certain groups, so it does advantage students who register a little bit earlier, it’s just not the exact order of when they register,” Bryson Beck, director of promotions and student recruitment at UO Housing, said.

Beck said the new system is more equitable to students
who are unable to pay the $400 in total registration fees right away.

“There (has been) students that didn’t have that $400 right when they were admitted, or right when housing opened, so they would have to wait days, a couple of weeks or even a couple of months before they were able to submit the housing registration,” Beck said.

There is a deferral option for the fees, but not every student is eligible. Beck said the process for deferrals has been streamlined recently, becoming a simpler process where students can fill out a form requesting a deferral rather than having to email UO Housing.

UO sophomore Kenzie Hobdy said she found using a lottery room selection system to be “a little absurd.”

“I feel like there’s so much pressure to sign up early, which I guess could be good or bad, but it’s almost like a reward when you sign up early to be able to (select your room) earlier,” Hobdy said.

Returning, transfer, exchange and visiting students are also on a lottery-based system, but only for the first two groups.

Group 1 is for students who registered by Jan. 23, and Group 2 is for students who registered from Jan. 24 to Feb. 20. Group 3 is entirely first come, first served for students who registered on or after Feb. 21. 2026