Housing in Charlotte
Our Charlotte Campus spans just a few blocks, so campus housing puts you right in the middle of the action. You’ll be steps from the Wildcat Center, academic buildings, campus green spaces and the dining hall.
Home for Three Years
Living on campus for your first three years puts you in the middle of things — a few minutes from your classes, and a streetcar stop from uptown Charlotte. It also puts you around people. Residents build the connections that turn into study partners, roommates and the group you graduate with. Students who live on campus generally earn stronger grades and stay more connected to what’s happening here.
Senior year is your call. Plenty of students stay in campus housing through graduation, and plenty move off campus and commute.
Residence Halls
The Charlotte Campus features two residence halls that are right next to each other. Both are available to all students and offer suite-style rooms with two bedrooms.
What to Know About Living on the Charlotte Campus
Wildcat Housing Selection
Each student selects their room 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).
Living-Learning Communities
A Living-Learning Community puts you on a floor with other first-year students who share your academic interest. You take some classes together, and the events and programs on your floor connect back to what you’re studying. Faculty are involved too, so the people teaching you are also part of where you live.
Housing Accommodations
If you need a housing accommodation for a disability or medical condition, start with Accessibility Services. You’ll submit documentation to them, and they decide what accommodation you receive. The online housing application in jwuLink asks whether you need an accommodation. Checking that box tells us to expect your request — it doesn’t approve it. You still need to work with Accessibility Services directly.
Pet & Animal Friendly Communities
We offer Pet & Animal Friendly communities for our students in both of our residence halls. Applying for a pet or animal is completed through the online housing application found in your jwuLink account. Pet & Animal Friendly Communities can be found on the first floors of Cedar Hall North and South.
Parking & Transit
Bringing a car means buying a parking permit for the Cedar Street Parking Deck (Lot D). Without one, you’re still covered: the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar stops at a station named for JWU on West Trade Street, connects to the LYNX Blue Line and CATS buses at CTC/Arena and puts uptown a few minutes from your residence hall.
Meal Plans
All students living on campus are required to purchase a meal plan. Plans are purchased and maintained in the Dine on Campus portal.
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 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.
The Charlotte Campus also offers summer internship housing for students with an internship in the city.
Mail and Packages
Everything comes to one place: Cedar Hall South, no matter which hall you live in. The Student Mailroom is managed and operated by RICO printing and mailing services. There’s no permanent mailbox — you’re assigned a locker or folder only when something arrives. Deliveries run Monday through Friday starting the second day of classes each semester, with nothing arriving on holidays, over winter break or after the year ends.
When something shows up, you’ll get an email at your JWU address with a code for the package lockers in the Cedar Hall South lobby or a folder number for the mailroom. Lockers are open around the clock, so grab packages whenever it works for you — within 48 hours, ideally, since anything left longer may eventually go back to the sender. Paper mail is picked up during mailroom hours, listed in the email.
One thing to know before move-in: don’t ship anything until after your check-in date. RICO can only accept mail for students who are living in the building, and anything that arrives early is returned.
Having Guests on Campus
In accordance with Mecklenburg County capacity guidelines, overnight guest privileges are limited to one guest per resident assigned to the room. For example, in a four-person suite, a maximum of four overnight guests may be present in the suite at any one time.
Guests must agree to comply with all university rules, regulations and policies, including the behavioral expectations in the Student Code of Conduct and the Guide to On-Campus Living. Overnight guests are permitted in the residence halls, but 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, it is imperative for students to 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 full-time day students.
Students who started their college experience at JWU during or after the 2025-2026 academic year 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 is married or has dependent(s)
– Student has a disability requiring off-campus housing
– 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.
Pet & Animal-Friendly (PAF) housing is located on the first floor within each residence hall.
Animals allowed: Dogs (up to 40 pounds and at least one year old); domestic cats (at least one year old); small caged mammals like hamsters (cage no larger than 16 square feet); fish or turtles in a bowl or tank under five gallons.
No more than one approved pet per person is allowed. Residents wanting to apply to bring their pet to campus must complete the Pet & Animal-Friendly application on the Wildcat Housing System. You can visit the Pet & Animal-Friendly page to learn more about eligible animals, requirements and how to apply.
No. Cedar Hall North and Cedar Hall South will remain open during the winter break period at an additional cost. More information about winter break will be sent via email during the fall semester. Halls are open for the fall and spring breaks. Please note that the Dining Hall is closed during all breaks.
For current room and board rates, consult Student Financial Services.
Yes. Our residence halls, Cedar Hall North & Cedar Hall South are set up in a suite style; the two rooms within each suite are gender-specific.
There are a limited number of gender-inclusive suites/rooms available on campus. For more information on gender-inclusive housing, please contact Residential Life.
Room change requests can only be submitted during the third week of each semester. During the first two weeks of each semester, the department handles any consolidation needs, providing roommates sufficient time to get acquainted.
A room change is a request only; moves are based on space availability.
Contact IT
Students should be advised that contract releases or exceptions are granted only in situations involving extreme or unusual circumstances, the nature of which would prohibit living in a residence hall or impose a severe hardship. A desire to experience off-campus living is not considered an acceptable reason to grant a release.
To begin the release process, you must complete a Contract Release Application through the Wildcat Housing System under ‘Housing Forms.’
Please review the Room Terms Agreement Cancellation Policy for more information on being released from your housing contract.
Yes, all rooms are wireless internet-ready. Landline telephone and cable service are no longer available in the residence hall rooms. Cable is available in certain residence hall lounges.
Students cannot bring their own microwave or refrigerator; the university provides one micro-fridge unit in each room (one per two students). No additional fees are required.
We strongly urge you to obtain personal property insurance coverage under your/your parents/your guardian’s homeowner’s insurance. JWU is not responsible for damages to or loss of your private property.
In the residence halls, students only have card access to their assigned suites. The interior doors to the students’ rooms have a deadbolt lock that can be locked from the inside or outside (with a key).
In all housing facilities, students’ ID cards will give them access to the exterior doors of the building where they reside.
All university housing has 24-hour monitored access. Access to each hall is limited to its residents. The front desks in Cedar Hall North & South are staffed by Desk Assistants Monday-Sunday from 8am-6pm and by Resident Assistants from 6pm-midnight. At midnight, security officers staff the front desk. All front desk staff assists residents with questions and concerns and offers safety for the residence hall.
To gain access to your hall, you must present your JWU ID with a valid hall sticker. If you visit a residence hall other than your own, you are considered a guest and must register with the front desk. It is important to note that all guests are required to abide by hall policies and procedures. There are also cameras throughout the building and on the outside of each building.
Both residence halls have laundry rooms on each floor. There are 16 washers and dryers in each building. The machines securely accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover Card for payment. Any washer or dryer malfunction should be immediately reported to the front desk in the corresponding hall.
The Charlotte Campus will work with all transfer students to secure housing on campus. First-time, first-year transfers are required to live on campus as part of the three-year residency requirement and are given priority in housing selection. Upper-class transfer students are allowed to live on campus but may be eligible for an exemption. For more information on transfer student housing or the exemption process, please contact Residential Life.