Off-Campus Housing for All Students

If you are not planning to live on-campus, it is your responsibility to find off-campus housing. Here are a few resources to help you find housing before arriving to UCI:

• The California Housing Board provides a forum for EAP participants to share information about housing for rent and roommates wanted in California . Many UCI EAP students are using the site, so we encourage you to post your information and communicate with other students who have or need off-campus housing for the time you will be here.
• Housing Outreach Services (HOS), located on the fourth floor of the UCI Student Center, also has roommate and apartment listings available for you to use once you arrive to UCI. The Housing web site also contains off-campus housing information. HOS can also email lists upon request.
• There are apartments within walking distance to campus that may be available, administered by the Irvine Apartment Communities (IAC). They have a good "Roommate Finder" service, so contact them directly at (949) 223-0800 about that service.
• If you are interested in living with a family, we are aware of a couple of organizations that can arrange a homestay for you. WISE and Homestay Web are examples of two good resources to use. Any length of stay may be accommodated (a few weeks to a year). If you are interested in this option, please contact these organizations directly, not the Housing Office.

Remember that you can pre-arrange temporary accommodations for the first few days, while you are looking for a place to live.

UCI is largely a commuter campus and many students prefer to live off-campus at the beach, which is about 15-20 minutes away by car, or about 45-60 minutes away by public bus. Although Irvine does have a bus service, and UCI has a shuttle service, public transport is not extensive here and can serve as a challenge when looking for housing. You may want to rent a car to be able to get around more easily while looking for a place to live. Numerous reciprocity students recommend living in Newport Beach, Balboa Island, or Costa Mesa. Do keep in mind that these areas are not walking distance from campus. Almost all American (and some international) students have cars, so once you make friends, ride sharing may be an option to get to campus if you choose to live in one of these areas. Please note that UCI's shuttle service does include service to Newport Beach.

We understand that some of you may be concerned about arriving in a foreign country with no place to live. It is very normal to be a little frightened by that and to not feel comfortable with this situation. However, let us reassure you that we always have a number of students each year who arrive to Irvine without knowing where they are going to live, and every year our students are successful in finding housing. If you are flexible, it should only take you a few days to a week to find suitable housing for the remainder of your stay.