Housing in Providence
Our campus in Providence, Rhode Island, is comprised of two campuses that students from all colleges can choose to live on. Both locations offer a selection of residence halls, an all-you-care-to-eat dining hall, a market for quick food on the go, a Starbucks, a library and a gym. Students can travel between both campuses in minutes on the Wildcat Wheels shuttle.
Closer to Everything
You’ll live on campus for your first three years. The people down the hall become your study group, your roommates and the friends you keep after graduation. There’s a practical side too. Students who live on campus tend to do better in their classes and stay more involved in what’s happening around them, largely because everything is a short walk away.
Senior year is up to you. Some students stay in campus housing through graduation and others move off campus and commute.
Downcity Campus Residence Halls
The Downcity Campus is located in the heart of downtown Providence. It’s home to our College of Arts & Sciences, College of Health & Wellness and College of Hospitality & Business academic buildings. This campus has four residence halls.
For first-year and transfer undergraduate students
For transfer and returning undergraduate students
For transfer and returning undergraduate students
For post-traditional, graduate and doctoral students
Harborside Campus Residence Halls
The Harborside Campus overlooks Narragansett Bay. It’s home to our College of Food Innovation & Technology academic buildings as well as our athletic facilities and fields. This campus has six residence halls.
For first-year and transfer undergraduate students
For transfer and returning students
For returning students
For first-year, transfer and returning undergraduate students
For returning undergraduate students
For returning CFIT undergraduate students
What’s the difference between Downcity and Harborside?
If you’re someone who enjoys greenspace, ocean views and a quieter feel, Harborside Campus is for you. If you like the high energy of city life and being in the center of the action, then you’ll love the Downcity Campus. Though each offers a different vibe, they both have the same vital resources students need, and students of any major can live on either campus.
What to Know About Living on the Providence Campus
Wildcat Housing Selection
At JWU, each student selects their own on-campus home through an online application found in jwuLink. Room selection is split into two phases. Part 1 is all about you — this is where you will answer profile questions and begin your search for potential roommates. Part 2 is where you select your hall, room, and if desired, your roommate(s).
Housing Accommodations
If you have a disability and need to request specific housing options, you must first submit documentation to Accessibility Services. You’ll indicate your need for an on-campus medical accommodation in the online housing application — but you’ll still need to work directly with Accessibility Services to receive that accommodation.
Parking & Transit
Wildcat Wheels is our free university shuttle bus, taking students back and forth between Downcity and Harborside. Students who wish to bring a vehicle to campus are required to purchase a parking permit. Only daytime parking is available in the Downcity Campus parking garage, and 24-hour parking is available at the Harborside Campus.
Meal Plans
A meal plan is required if you’re a first-year student or a returning student living in anything other than apartment-style housing.
Over the summer, incoming first-year and transfer students use the Wildcat Room Selection Process in jwuLink to choose a room and confirm their meal plan. First-year meal plans can’t be changed during your first year.
After that, you can request a meal plan change through Residential Life in the Wildcat Housing System.
Summer Housing
Students who need to stay on campus during summer may do so by applying for summer housing. Expect an email from housing (to your JWU email address) between mid-March and mid-April of every year with details on the application, location and costs. To qualify for summer housing, students must be living on campus either the spring before or fall following the summer term.
Mail and Packages
You’ll get a mailbox and key when you move in, and it stays yours for the full academic year. Some halls assign one mailbox per student; in others you’ll share with your roommate.
Mail and packages arrive at your residence hall’s front desk starting the second day of classes. Delivery pauses on national and local holidays, during winter break and at the end of the academic year.
When a package arrives, you’ll get an email at your JWU address with the pickup location, pickup times and how long you have to claim it. Anything left past that deadline goes back to the sender.
If a package contains an item that isn’t allowed under the Living On-Campus Guide, Residential Life staff may hold it and will contact you. Some cases are referred to the Conduct Review Process.
Do not send mail or packages before your move-in date. Residential Life can only accept items for students who have officially checked in and are actively residing in the building; mail and packages sent before move-in will be returned to sender.
Having Guests on Campus
Residents may host a maximum of two guests in a Residence Hall. Guests must agree to comply with all university rules, regulations and policies, including the behavioral expectations outlined in the Student Code of Conduct and the Guide to On-Campus Living. Overnight guests are permitted in the residence halls. However, overnight guests are limited to no more than three visits within seven days or three consecutive nights.
Any guests under 18 but at least 16 years old must be approved by authorized Residential Life staff at least one week in advance. Anyone under the age of 16 (including infants) is never allowed to stay overnight. They may be allowed to visit for a short period of time in a residence hall, but only if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian and approved in advance by Residential Life.
Residential Life strongly discourages parents and other family members from spending the night during the first week of each semester. During this time, students must make connections with their communities and their campus.
To provide our undergraduate students with the best experience possible and help them be academically and personally successful, Johnson & Wales has a live-on-campus requirement for all incoming, full-time day students. Current students enrolled in 2026-2027 academic year or beyond who started their college experience at JWU are required to live in the residence halls for their first three years at the university. This policy includes students entering as a first-time college student as well as transfer students, whether they enter in the fall or spring semesters.
Exemptions to this requirement may be granted based on one of the following reasons:
-Student will be living at home with parent(s) or legal guardian(s) within 35 miles of JWU’s campus.
-Student lives in the state of Rhode Island at the time of application of their first enrolled semester.
-Student is married or has dependent(s).
-Student turns 22 years old before the first day of classes of their first enrolled semester.
-Student is not eligible to live on campus.
Note that not all requests for exemptions are approved, and most will require documentation.
Students who have been convicted of certain felonies (or have had certain felony-type charges sustained in a juvenile proceeding), such as crimes of violence, serious drug offenses, and sex offenses, are not eligible to live in university housing.
Students must maintain active day student enrollment status to remain in university housing.
We offer room change requests a couple of times per year. The first opportunity will be during week 3 when the application opens and will begin being processed at the start of week 4. During the room change window, you can put in a request for a room change and we’ll do our best to fulfill your request.
You can request to move in up to two days prior to the official move-in day at an additional $50 a day fee. The application to request early arrival typically opens in mid-July on the Wildcat Housing System.
If you have a space in your room please keep it available for a potential new roommate to move in. (This includes leaving the extra bed, closet, dresser, and desk free of personal items and ready for a new occupant.)
Students who want a micro-fridge must pre-order a unit. Units will be delivered to rooms in August only for those students who have rented it before the August 4th, deadline. More information regarding deadlines will be emailed to students during the summer. To obtain pricing information and make rental arrangements, please contact My MicroFridge or call them at 1-800-637-7567. Please remember you may only have one fridge per room.
Current students living on campus that need a proof of address may request it through their JWU email by sending an email to reslife.pvd@jwu.edu.
The university provides each resident with a bed, a desk and chair, a dresser, and closet space.
Each hall conveniently provides study rooms, TV lounges, game rooms, laundry, a printing station for coursework, and vending machines.
Yes, we have a limited number of beds dedicated to graduate, doctoral, and post-traditional students.
Laundry facilities are located in each residence hall. The cost is $1.75 to wash and $1.75 to dry. Washing machines and dryers are paid for by credit or debit cards branded with Visa, MasterCard and Discover. The laundry system will allow students to receive a text when laundry is complete and/or when other machines are available for use. Signage in each laundry room will explain taking full advantage of all the CSC laundry system’s services.
Freshwater fish in 5-gallon tanks or smaller are allowed in all residence halls. We do have pet-friendly communities. Students must submit and have their pet application approved before bringing their pet to campus (no application is needed for freshwater fish).
All residence halls require ID card access to enter. All of our traditional halls have a front desk that is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when the halls are open.
We do not staff the residence halls until students arrive, so mail will not be accepted before move-in weekend. If packages or mail are sent ahead of time, they will be returned. Please plan for all shipments to arrive after your student has moved into a residence hall.