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Kean University brings about 14,064 students to Union, New Jersey, a leafy township that sits a quick train ride from both Newark and Manhattan. The Cougars cheer at Enlow Field, and campus life centers on the student union, the galleries at Wilkins Theatre, and the recording studios inside Enlow Hall. Liberty Hall Museum, a 50-room mansion with seven generations of history, anchors one edge of campus and opens its gardens to wanderers. Fall means the Homecoming Carnival, and summer brings the Jazz and Roots Music Festival to the lawn. Union itself is suburban and walkable in patches, but most students lean on the Garden State Parkway and NJ Transit out of Union Station. When you want a bigger night, New York City is roughly 30 minutes northeast.
Kean does not lock first-year students into the dorms, so plenty of freshmen commute from home or move into the surrounding towns right away. Many newcomers still spend year one in one of Kean's residence halls to find their footing.
Students tend to drift off campus as sophomores and juniors once they have found roommates. When you go off campus, you are renting in a regular New Jersey market rather than a student-run system, so leases run through private landlords and management companies.
Expect to show pay stubs or a guarantor, put down a security deposit (New Jersey caps it at 1.5 months of rent), and read the lease for who covers heat and water. Union and the neighboring towns have rental-unit registration and inspection rules, so ask whether a place is properly registered before you sign.
Housing policies change frequently. Always verify current requirements directly with Kean University before signing a lease.
The North Jersey rental cycle moves fast, so don't sleep on it. Most apartments here turn over for a standard September 1 or October 1 move-in, which lines up neatly with Kean's fall semester. The best-located houses and the larger multi-bedroom units near campus get claimed from late spring into early summer, so serious searching should start in March or April if you want a strong roommate group and a short walk to class.
Many landlords prefer 12-month leases starting September, though some flex to shorter terms. Demand peaks from late spring into summer as students lock in for the fall. Check campus listing boards and local rental groups regularly during this stretch, and have your paperwork ready so you can move on a unit quickly. The closest, roommate-friendly units go first.
Wait until July or August and you will still find places, but you are picking from leftovers and competing with everyone else scrambling. If you land mid-year, look for sublets from students studying abroad or graduating in December. Spring openings also pop up with less notice, so keep an eye on local rental groups and campus boards.
The immediate streets of Union put you closest to class and run on the quieter side.
This area mixes apartments with shops and sits near transit, so it is easy for car-free students.
Just east of campus, it leans practical, tends to run lower on price, and offers a quick hop to Newark.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
A shared room or a room in a split house near Kean usually runs $700-$1,100/month per person. Spots in Hillside and parts of Elizabeth land at the lower end, while newer units around Union Center sit higher. Sharing a 2 or 3 bedroom almost always beats renting solo here.