CU Denver Housing Application Process: How to Apply for On-Campus Housing at City Heights & Lynx Crossing

Applying for on-campus housing at CU Denver isn’t complicated. But it moves fast. Spaces are limited. Assignments go first-come-first-served. Miss a deadline and you might lose your shot at the floor plan you wanted. Or housing altogether.

Here’s exactly how it works so you’re not scrambling last minute.

Before You Start: What You Need

You can’t just jump into the housing portal cold. Few things need to be ready first.

You’ll need access to your university email account. The housing portal uses your CU Denver credentials, so if you’re an incoming student who hasn’t set those up yet, hit up the Office of Information Technology before the application opens. Don’t wait until day-of and realize you’re locked out.

If you’re under 18 when you sign your contract, a parent or guardian has to co-sign. Plan for that ahead of time so it doesn’t slow you down when you’re trying to submit.

And if you need housing accommodations for a disability or medical condition, start that process through your institution’s Disability Resource Center before you apply. Accommodation requests can take up to 30 days to process. Seriously. Don’t sit on this one.

When Does the Application Open?

The CU Denver housing application opens on Monday, January 5th, 2026 at 12:00 PM MST for the 2026-2027 academic year. Mark your calendar. Set a reminder. Whatever you need to do.

Portal’s at cudenver.starrezhousing.com. Log in with your CU Denver student credentials and the application should be right there waiting.

The Two Things You Must Complete

Getting on-campus housing comes down to two steps, and you gotta finish both by the deadline.

First, sign and complete your housing contract by 11:59 PM MST on Tuesday, March 31st, 2026. Second, complete a Financial Planning Meeting by that same deadline. Both. Not just one.

That financial planning meeting isn’t just a box to check. Housing wants to make sure you’ve got a realistic plan to cover tuition, fees, and room and board for the full year. If you’re fuzzy on where you stand financially, reach out to your institution’s Financial Aid Office before you sign anything. Better to know now than get blindsided later.

Priority Periods: Timing Matters

Not everyone’s on the same timeline here. CU Denver uses priority periods to give certain students first dibs on housing and parking. Pay attention to which one applies to you.

Returning Student Priority Period runs from when the portal opens until February 14th, 2026 (yeah, Valentine’s Day) at 11:59 PM MST. If you’re already living on campus and want to stay, this is your window. Complete your contract during this period to keep your Lynx Loyalty rate locked in. More on that later.

First-Year Priority Period runs until March 31st, 2026 at 11:59 PM MST. First-year and transfer students who complete their contracts during this window get priority for high-demand floor plans at Lynx Crossing (if eligible) and early access to roommate matching.

After these periods close? You’re competing for whatever’s left. And at a campus with limited beds, that can mean slim pickings. Don’t risk it.

Where You’ll Live: City Heights vs. Lynx Crossing

CU Denver has two residence halls. Which one you end up in depends on where you are in school.

City Heights Residence Hall is reserved for first-year CU Denver students. Newer building. Opened in 2021. Sits right next to the Learning Commons. Rooms are community-style with the City Heights Dining Hall on the ground floor. If you want that traditional dorm experience where you’re actually meeting people and building community, this is it.

Lynx Crossing Residence Hall serves everyone else: upper-division undergrads, graduate students, and students from MSU Denver and Community College of Denver. Apartment-style living with full kitchens. Floor plans range from studios to four-bedrooms. Way more independence. Plus amenities like free laundry, a fitness center, and study lounges. Different vibe entirely.

Lynx Learning Communities: A Shortcut to Priority

Here’s something a lot of students don’t know about. If you apply to a Lynx Learning Community (LLC) and get accepted, you jump to the front of the line.

LLCs are themed living-learning programs where you live on the same floor as students with similar interests and take a related course together. Options include stuff like “Crime and Justice in the Centennial State” at City Heights or “The Place of Food” at Lynx Crossing. Actually pretty cool if something fits your interests.

Getting into an LLC gives you access to the LLC Room Selector. That means you get to pick your specific room in your community. Priority for high-demand floor plans. Early access to roommate matching. Good perks if you can swing it.

The LLC Room Selector stays open until April 16th, 2026 at 11:59 PM MST. If you’re interested, indicate it on your housing application.

Roommate Matching: How It Works

For first-year and transfer students, CU Denver offers an opt-in roommate matching program. You can search for potential roommates, form your own group, or skip the whole thing and let Housing assign someone randomly.

The earlier you complete your contract, the more time you have to find compatible roommates. Roommate matching closes on June 30th. Don’t procrastinate if having a say in who you live with matters to you. It matters to most people.

If you’d rather go random, that’s fine too. You’ll get your roommate assignment when placements come out.

Parking: Get It While You Can

On-campus parking at Lynx Crossing runs $650 per semester for 2026-2027. First-come-first-served. Limited spots.

Here’s the key part: if you complete your housing contract during your assigned priority period, you can sign up for parking as part of the process. Miss that window and you land on a waitlist. Parking offers from the waitlist start going out mid-April. No guarantees at that point.

Only Lynx Crossing residents can park at the Lynx Crossing lot. City Heights doesn’t have dedicated student parking, so you’d use general Auraria Campus lots if you bring a car. Something to factor in.

Meal Plans: What’s Required

First-time students living on campus must choose a meal plan. Two options here.

The Broncos Plan gets you 19 meals per week plus $40 monthly in flex spending. The Nuggets Plan drops to 14 meals per week but bumps flex spending to $60 monthly. Depends on how often you actually eat in the dining hall versus grabbing stuff elsewhere.

If you’ve lived on campus for two or more consecutive semesters and you’re in an apartment with a full kitchen, you can opt out of meal plans entirely. Otherwise, you gotta pick one.

Quick note: unused meal swipes don’t roll over week to week. But flex dollars carry over month to month within your contract term. Plan accordingly.

What Happens After You Apply

Once you’ve signed your contract and completed your financial planning meeting, Housing processes applications in the order they came in.

Room assignments start going out in the second week of April for first-year students who opted out of roommate matching and for non-priority returning students. If you’re in an LLC or used roommate matching, your timeline may look different.

Move-in appointments typically become available in late July. For Fall 2025, they opened on July 21st. You’ll schedule your specific move-in time through the housing portal.

When placements are finalized, you’ll see your assignment and your roommate’s contact info on the portal homepage. Pro tip: reach out to your roommate before move-in to coordinate who’s bringing what. Nobody needs three mini-fridges in one room. Learned that one the hard way.

Lynx Loyalty: Lock In Your Rate

Already living on campus? The Lynx Loyalty program freezes your housing rate at whatever you paid your first year. So if you started in a 2×2 at Lynx Crossing in 2022-2023 and want to move to a 4×2 next year, you’d pay 2022-2023 rates for the new floor plan. Solid savings over time.

The catch: you have to complete your contract by the returning student priority deadline (February 15th, 2026). Miss it and you lose Lynx Loyalty eligibility. Gone. Don’t let that happen.

The Bottom Line

The CU Denver housing application process is straightforward if you stay on top of deadlines. Get your university email set up. Log in the day the portal opens. Complete your contract and financial planning meeting within your priority period. Do those things and you’ll be in good shape.

Spaces fill fast. Don’t assume you can wait until summer to figure this out.