Cancellations-Housing and Dining Services - Room Selection - Carnegie Mellon University

Housing Cancellations

The Open Cancellation period is the only opportunity students have to cancel their housing agreement without significant financial penalty.  After the Open Cancellation period ends, students are only permitted to cancel their housing assignments if they are leaving the university.  Students who are leaving the university after the Open Cancellation period has ended will still be responsible for paying the $400 housing reservation fee even if they will not be a student for the fall 2013 semester. 

What You Should Know About Cancellations

Before canceling your 2013–2014 housing license agreement, please remember:

  1. Housing cancellations are FINAL — there is no "undo;" if you change your mind, you'll have to go on the housing waitlist and there is no guarantee that you'll get back in
  2. You must keep your cancellation confirmation email
  3. When you cancel your housing, you are leaving the university housing system; it is extremely difficult to get back into the housing system once you leave and you are no longer guaranteed housing
  4. Your space will be filled with a new resident assigned by Housing and Dining Services — your remaining roommate(s) will NOT have the option to pull in a new roommate
  5. You are responsible for being familiar with all of the information and deadlines below — please read this entire page before clicking the cancellation link

You must return to the housing portal to cancel your agreement.  The link will be available when the open cancellation period begins. When cancelling, please be sure to complete the following steps:

  1. Click on the "Cancel Agreement" text on the upper right hand side of the page — this will take you to the cancellation form
  2. Click on the "Cancel agreement" button
  3. Log-in to your Andrew email to verify that you received a cancellation confirmation email — if you did not receive a confirmation email, your cancellation did NOT go through!


Housing Cancellations

Housing cancellations are granted to students who participated in Room Selection and cancel their housing assignments within the timeline of the Open Cancellation Period. Depending on when the cancellation request is made some students will even receive a refund of their housing reservation fee. 

Open Cancellation Period

The Open Cancellation Period begins Monday, April 15 and runs through Friday, May 10, 2013 at 12 p.m. The link to the cancellation form will be available here when the open cancellation period begins.

Residents who select a room for the 2013–2014 academic year during Room Selection may cancel their housing contract during the Open Cancellation Period. There are two phases to the open cancellation period:

  1. Contract cancellation with a full refund of housing charges and the $400 reservation fee (early weeks of the open cancellation period)
  2. Contract cancellation with a full refund of housing charges only (resident is still responsible for paying the $400 fee — later weeks of the open cancellation period)


Residents who did not select a room during Room Selection (i.e. you elected to participate in room selection but did not end up coming or selecting a room) do not need to submit a cancellation form — the $400 housing reservation fee will not be charged if a room is not selected.

Open Cancellation Period – Deadlines

  1. April 15, 2013 through April 30, 2013 (at 4:59 p.m.) — Cancellation of housing assignment with a full refund of housing charges and a full refund of the $400 reservation fee. Residents who cancel during this phase will be refunded for all Fall 2013 housing charges.
  2. April 30, 2013 (at 5 p.m.) through May 10, 2013 (at 12:00 p.m.) — Cancellation of housing assignment with a full refund of housing charges only. Residents who cancel during this phase will still be responsible for paying the $400 housing reservation charge that has been posted to their Fall 2013 student account (regardless of the reason for canceling.) All other housing related charges will be refunded.


After Friday, May 10, 2013 at 12 p.m. — Residents will NOT be permitted to cancel their housing license agreement, and will be held financially responsible for all housing charges, including the $400 housing reservation fee.

  • Residents who do not request a cancellation before 12 p.m. on May 10, 2013 will be held responsible for all housing costs. This includes residents who sign a housing contract or confirm an Open Assignment after May 10.
  • Cancellation requests are immediate and final — you cannot request to have your housing assignment reinstated once your cancellation request has been submitted unless you are leaving the university.
  • If you cancel, it is your responsibility to retain the cancellation confirmation email, which will be sent to you. Please keep this email should you need to prove cancellation in the future. Cancellation exceptions will be made for students who are leaving the university due to leave of absence, withdrawal, or financial or academic suspension, but the $400 housing reservation fee will NOT be refunded. Such residents are responsible for notifying Housing Services that they will be leaving/not returning to the university in order to receive a full or pro-rated refund of housing charges. 
  • Residents should not sign leases for off-campus apartments after May 10, 2013 as they will NOT be released from their university housing agreements. University housing contracts are for the academic year (both fall and spring semesters).
Note: Housing cancellations — once approved and processed — are final. Residents who cancel university housing are not guaranteed housing should their plans change at a later date (exceptions exist for residents who are completing an approved study abroad experience.) Once a student leaves university housing, he/she is no longer eligible to participate in Room Selection the following year.  This includes students who leave university housing in order to move into their Greek house. Residents are encouraged to keep this in mind when deciding whether or not to cancel housing.