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Off-Campus Housing Near Swarthmore
About Off-Campus Housing Near Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a small, deeply residential liberal arts school of about 1,437 students set in a leafy borough just southwest of Philadelphia. The campus doubles as a 425-acre arboretum, with wooded hills, gardens, and Crum Woods trails that back right up to the dorms, so it feels more like a park than a city block. Nearly everyone lives on campus, and life centers on the residence halls and the small downtown the borough nicknames the Ville, a walkable cluster of shops and events steps from campus. The Ville hosts a farmers market, a summer concert series, and seasonal celebrations. A SEPTA rail station sits at the edge of the borough, so students hop the train into Center City Philadelphia for museums and bigger nights, while daily life stays on foot.
Swarthmore College Housing Requirements
Freshman Live-On Requirement
Swarthmore is overwhelmingly residential, and new students are required to live in the residence halls for their first two semesters, so there is no first-year apartment search here. Most students stay on campus all eight semesters, which keeps social life centered on the dorms. Plan on living on campus when you start.
Off-Campus Eligibility
Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors have the option to live in non-college housing, but the share who actually do is small. If you want to move off, you give formal notice to the Office of Student Engagement before the spring or December housing lottery and file an Intent to Live Off-Campus application on the housing portal in MySwarthmore, so it runs through a campus process rather than just signing a lease. The college does not provide off-campus housing services or mediate landlord disputes, so you are on your own once approved.