Move-in

Welcome, Hoosiers!

We are excited to welcome you and your family to IU Bloomington!

Move-in is a day full of excitement and bittersweet emotions for both students and families. IU Housing is here to help, and we've included everything you need to know to make your experience a success.

Take a few minutes to review the tips below so you come to campus feeling confident and prepared.

Fall move-in timeline

  • Monday, August 4: Summer-term housing students arrive, including athletes who stayed over the summer and Groups Scholars program students as needed. Twelve-month contracts end for unfurnished apartments.
  • Sunday, August 10: Centralized check-in for Intensive Freshman Seminar participants, international students, and special, early-arrival students.
  • Friday, August 15: Centralized check-in for select university-sponsored groups. If you are in this group, you must confirm by checking the move-in dates available to you. Do not make travel arrangements before you select your arrival date and time.
  • Tuesday, August 19–Wednesday, August 20: Centralized check-in for all remaining students.
  • Monday, August 25: Classes begin.

Please note: Not all students will have the option to arrive early. Those who arrive early are part of specific and approved sponsored groups. There is a charge for students who arrive early. Please check with your group sponsor to know if the early arrival fee will be billed to you or your sponsoring department.

Check-in information

Residents arriving on Sunday, August 10, or Friday, August 15, will check in at the DeVault Alumni Center at 1000 E. Seventeenth Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free parking to check in is available across the street in the Blue Lot. 

Centralized check-in will be held in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall from Tuesday, August 19, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday, August 20, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you arrive late, you will not be able to move in until the next day.

Residents arriving after Wednesday, August 20, will go directly to the center desk of their assigned residence hall.

When you arrive in Bloomington, you must enter centralized check-in from the SR 45/46 Bypass at Gate 11, Purple Lot. Proceed to the parking area in the Green Lot. Enter the North Lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to complete your housing check-in.

Arrival information

  • A luggage storage area will be provided for students to leave their luggage while checking in. Those who arrive by shuttles or ride shares are encouraged to use this service.
  • Students will need their CrimsonCard to check in.
  • Only the student may check in (parents, guardians, or other people may not check in on the student's behalf).
  • Temporary cards will be issued for students who have not received their CrimsonCard.
  • Students will proceed to their residence hall once they are checked in.

Incoming students should arrive and move in by the evening of Wednesday, August 20, to ensure they attend their first floor meeting in their residence center.

Move-in FAQs

Here's some information to smooth your transition to campus life here at IU Bloomington.

You'll need to use your digital IU CrimsonCard to gain access to your building. Follow directions from CrimsonCard Card Management to set up your account. If your building happens to have room keys or combination locks, you'll receive a key or a code when you move in.

Note: You may see residence centers other than your assigned center on the app, but the app will only work on your assigned space.

For your safety, your beds must be set up by our university partner, Bedloft.com. Bedloft is an approved vendor of Indiana University. Contact them about the options available in your room and schedule an appointment for service.

You can also save space in your residence hall room with fridge/microwave combo units from Bedloft too. If you have more questions, visit the Bedloft website.

Unless you live in Ashton, which has radiant heat, you will have a thermostat in your room. These thermostats have pre-determined heating and cooling ranges to lessen humidity and maintain a comfortable climate throughout the building.

The heating and cooling ranges for every residence hall are available on your building webpage and also posted in every room.

While living with IU Housing, your housing and dining costs are billed directly to your IU account through the bursar. Bills are generated twice an academic year: once for fall and once for spring. Your first housing bill will be applied to your bursar account at the end of July with a due date of September 10.

Please connect with Student Central if you are interested in signing up for a payment plan, which allows for a monthly pay option, or if you have additional questions on how to pay your bill.

Wi-Fi is available throughout campus. Like any carrier, you can expect the signal to be stronger or weaker in different areas. Some residence halls still have ethernet connections to the Internet. Read this article to know what equipment you may need and how to connect.

Yes, your personal streaming services will work!

In addition to your internet connection, we have arranged for you to stream XFINITY On Campus™ at no charge, and you also get ResLife Cinema, a movie channel where you can recommend and vote on the content. Get set up with XFINITY On Campus™ by reading this article.

Most students do not bring vehicles to campus during their first year. If you do bring your vehicle, all vehicles on campus must have a university parking permit. Campus Housing (CH) permits are limited, and most residents will get a Student (ST) permit. Parking permits for the 2025-2026 academic year will become available for purchase online through the IU Parking Portal on August 1.

If you’re not already on the waiting list for one of these high-demand Campus Housing (CH) permits, you can still join it.

On Fridays throughout the month of August, Parking Operations will send email offer notifications for Campus Housing (CH) permits to your IU email. If you have requested a CH permit through the CH permit waitlist, you will be notified through your IU email if you have been selected to purchase a permit.

CH permit offers must be accepted by completing the purchase of the permit in the online parking portal prior to the specified offer deadline. CH permit offers will expire on the Thursday following the offer email. All unclaimed CH permits will be reoffered on Fridays to the next students on the waitlist, meaning that expired offers cannot be extended. Once you complete your purchase, your license plate becomes your permit, and you can use it right away. CH permits will be required for parking in the CH zones beginning Monday, August 25.

If you do not receive an offer, please check your IU email each Friday through August to see if an offer is made. If by August 29 you have not received a CH permit offer, please proceed to purchase a Student (ST) permit. ST and Evening permits will be mailed via USPS. Please be sure to enter your local or campus mailing address, including your center and room or apartment number accurately, to ensure delivery. ST permits will be required to be displayed in ST zones beginning September 1.

All CH, ST and Evening permits are only available for purchase online with bursar billing as the payment option.

You can visit the IU Parking Operations website to review the process for student parking.

Mail and packages are delivered to your center desk, but no sooner than Thursday, August 7. You’ll be assigned a mailbox when you arrive. Check the Mail and packages webpage to see how to write your new address.

Items shipped through USPS, UPS, FedEx, Amazon, DHL, etc., will not be accepted before August 7 and must be addressed with the proper campus address.

Have lots of stuff on move-in day? Check out the ship-to-school options from our university partner Guys and Dollies! You ship to their storage facility, and they deliver to your room.

Our environmental operations staff will clean en-suite restrooms at Briscoe, Read, Willkie, Spruce, Wells, Walnut Grove, and Union Street Center every two weeks. All other restrooms are cleaned daily Monday–Friday. If you're in one of our unfurnished rooms, you are responsible for cleaning your restroom. Learn more about your center's restroom on the Restrooms webpage.

Washers and dryers are available in your building for you to use at no charge. Just use your CrimsonCard to activate a machine. Use the Laundry Alert app to find available machines and get an alert when the washer or dryer cycle is finished.

IU does not assume any financial responsibility for the personal property of students or large-scale unintentional damage that students cause to housing property. We strongly recommend that you have renters insurance coverage for the personal property you have on campus. If you don’t already have coverage, you can get a quote from our university partner GradGuard.

Once you connect to IU's network, you will be able to use your personal PC, laptop, or tablet. You will also have use of PCs, Macs, and printers in the residential technology centers in each residence hall. Locations, hours, services, and software are available at the IU RTC Knowledge Base.

Residence hall rooms come with:

  • Campus streaming services (cable TV connection at some locations)
  • Closet or wardrobe
  • Desk and chair (one per student)
  • Wi-Fi
  • Single bed and an extra-long twin mattress (one per student)
  • Wastebasket
  • Window coverings

Before doing anything to your room, please read the IU Housing Rules and Regulations.

Beds cannot be repositioned without using Bedloft.

In anticipation of your move-in date, we have provided a rough guide on things you can do in advance to prepare.

June

July

August