Special Interest Housing Communities

Special Interest Housing Communities are programs that offer the same benefits and ideals that Living Learning Communities offer to our students. Students enjoy all the usual advantages of living on-campus in a residence hall, with the added benefit of living among a group of students that shares similar interests or characteristics. Students in these communities typically live in the same residential area as others who share the common interest/theme, but are not required to have that interest or topic as their academic major. The students in these communities are not required to share the same major, and do not typically have an academic course assigned to their program. 

• Students participating in these programs will be able to connect with other fellow Golden Bears that share the same interests or academic goals which enhances their support and social network on campus.
• Typically, students in these programs receive more interactions with faculty and staff which can help improve academic connections and grades.
• Nationally, students that participate in Living Learning Communities and Special Interest Housing Communities typically have a higher retention rate (staying at the same school from year to year) and GPA.
• Resources are shared among students, faculty and staff in these communities that can enrich the overall University experience.  
• Programming opportunities are increased for students participating in Living Learning Communities which increases their learning outside of the classroom, as well as provide opportunities for social and personal growth.

Click here for the Living Learning Community/Special Interest Housing Community application information.

2026-2027 Deadlines:

Incoming Students:

• Applications will be open from April 8th-May 8th
• Roommate matches on MyKUHousing are due May 29th
• Special Interest Housing Room Assignments are manually made by staff during the first week of June. Students will be emailed once their placement is complete! 

Completed and approved special interest housing applications will be manually assigned by staff during the first week of June. When complete, you will receive an email. 

Interest in joining a community after May 8th will be taken on a case by case basis. Please direct requests to soisson@kutztown.edu.

Students are able to select a roommate that is not a member of the SIH Community for most communities. However, it is encouraged to live with another member of the community. They do not need to fill out a SIH Community application, unless they want to be a member of the community as well.

This depends on the approval of the faculty or staff member advising the community. These requests should be emailed in advance to soisson@kutztown.edu.

Yes and No. You cannot live in multiple places, so you will ultimately have to decide which community you want to live in. We suggest you visit each community's page to gather all the information about the community and the residence hall that it is located in to better make your decision. However, many faculty/staff community advisors still welcome students to participate in the meetings and programs of their community, even if you do not live in the designated hall. The faculty/staff member in charge of each community will make that determination. Students cannot be given access to buildings, or designated community spaces if they do not live in the hall. Those students would need to be signed in as guests at the Residence Hall's front desk to attend meetings.

Students who are not matched with a roommate by May 29th will be placed into housing with another student. Every effort is made to made students with another student in their selected community. 

Currently, the only Special Interest Communities available for upper-class students to apply to are:

• Neurodiverse Community
• Honors Community (if in the Honors Program)

All other communities are for incoming first-year students.