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Off-Campus Housing Near University of Iowa
About Off-Campus Housing Near University of Iowa
The University of Iowa puts about 30,300 Hawkeyes in Iowa City, a walkable river town UNESCO named the first City of Literature in the country. The Pentacrest, five stately buildings around the Old Capitol, anchors campus, and the downtown Pedestrian Mall sits right next door: car-free blocks of independent restaurants, theaters, street musicians, and bars everyone knows by name. Saturdays in fall belong to Kinnick Stadium and the Iowa Wave, when the whole crowd turns to wave at kids watching from the children's hospital over the end zone. It's one of the best traditions in college sports. The Iowa River splits campus, and most students walk or hop the free Cambus, so you rarely need a car day to day.
University of Iowa Housing Requirements
Freshman Live-On Requirement
The University of Iowa has no first-year live-on requirement, so you are not forced into the dorms. Even so, about 94 percent of freshmen choose them anyway because the residence halls sit close to everything and make the social transition easier. You could technically live off campus from day one.
Off-Campus Eligibility
Since there is no mandate, any student at Iowa is eligible to live off campus, though most wait until sophomore year when they pair up with friends they met in the halls. Iowa City leases almost universally start the first week of August and end mid to late July, which leaves a short summer gap. Some students bridge it with sublets or the university's lease-gap housing.
Lease Timing
Most downtown student buildings lease by the unit, so you and your roommates share one lease and split responsibility, though some larger complexes offer per-bed leases. Read which you are signing, check whether water and trash are included since they often are, and confirm what the bundled utility package actually covers before you assume internet is free.