University dorms

How many students get a dorm

School dorms house about half of the students who don't live at home. The Ministry of Education (MOE, 教育部) counts students in dorms and students renting off campus. Students living with their family are not in the count.

• Applied for a dorm 317,453 students in 2025/26 (academic year 114).
• Lived in one 273,885: 260,224 in school-owned dorms and 13,661 in dorms the school leases.
• Rented off campus 227,433.
• Share housed 54.63% of students in dorms or renting were in a school dorm.

These totals are our sums from the MOE's school-by-school file. In every year from 2018/19 to 2025/26, more students applied than were housed. The share differs a lot by school:

Good to know: the share is dorm residents divided by dorm residents plus off-campus renters. It is not the share of all students at the school.

How applying works

• The notice. New students get the dorm application with the admission notice or registration packet (Fu Jen and National Dong Hwa say this in their rules, for example).
• Apply in the window. Most schools take applications online. At Yuan Ze, anyone who doesn't apply by the deadline is treated as not living in. At NTNU, late applications drop to the end of the last tier.
• Send proof for priority. Priority groups (disability, low income, outlying islands and others) send documents by an earlier date. At NTHU, priority holders who don't also apply online lose their priority.
• Allocation. Priority groups first, then a lottery or a ranking (see below). Results come out online.
• Pay on time. Several schools cancel your bed if you don't pay the fee or deposit by the deadline. At Chinese Culture University, first-years who win a bed pay within three days. At NTNU, not paying counts as withdrawing and lowers your tier next year by one.
• Waitlist. If you miss out, you can usually join a waitlist (候補).
• Every year again. At most schools a bed lasts one academic year and you apply again for the next. At NTU, undergraduates first housed from 2024/25 on apply each year, and a lottery decides who stays.

When schools took applications for 2026/27

In Taiwan's calendar, 2026/27 is academic year 115 (115學年度). These were the windows for 2026/27. Expect similar timing each year, and check your school's notice.

Move-in for 2026/27 was from August 29 at NCCU, NTNU and Feng Chia, and on September 5 or 6 at Soochow, Tamkang, Chung Yuan and Tunghai.

How lotteries work

When beds run short, schools draw by computer. Some details from the rules:

• NTU, NCCU, NTNU, NTHU, NCKU and National Central University all use a lottery, and NCCU, NTNU, NTHU and NCKU say it is drawn by computer. NTU and NTNU draw within each priority tier, so the tier you are in matters more than the draw.
• At NCKU, students with 5 or more unremoved violation points have at most a 5% chance in the draw, and merit points can raise your odds.
• At Feng Chia, each person gets one lottery chance.
• At NCCU, students with 10 or more violation points can't apply.
• Not every school uses a lottery. Tunghai gave first-year beds in order of form submission until full. Chung Yuan says beds follow its priority order, not the order you applied in.

Household registration (戶籍) and dorms

Your household registration (戶籍) is the address where you are registered with the household registration office. ROC nationals are registered under the Household Registration Act. It is how many schools decide whether a local student lives "far enough" away.

What the law says

• Registration is by household, and a person can't hold two household registrations at once (Household Registration Act, 戶籍法, art. 3).
• If you move out of your township or district for three months or more, you must register the move. But people away for study in Taiwan (國內就學) may choose not to (art. 16). So a student who moves into a dorm can leave their registration where it is, for example at the family home where their parents are registered.
• A school can be a household address too, and a student can be registered there (Enforcement Rules, arts. 3 and 4). NTU's rules say that if you registered at the dorm, you must move the registration out before you leave.
• You or an interested party can get a household registration transcript (戶籍謄本) from a household registration office (art. 65). This is the document schools usually ask for.

How schools use it

• Exclusion by district. Some schools don't take local students registered in the home city or named nearby districts, or take them only from leftover beds. The lists are of districts, not kilometres.
• Ranking by distance. Others put far-away students first. None of the documents we read says how distance is measured, apart from schools that publish district lists.
• A lookback. Many schools count where you were registered months or years before: 6 months at NCKU, Soochow, Tamkang and Yuan Ze, 1 year at NTNU, 2 years at NTU and NCCU.
• Your parents. Some rules look at your parents too. NTU's outlying-island priority counts you and both parents. Tamkang requires you to share a household registration with at least one parent. NTNU's tier 2 asks that the whole household is registered and actually living outside Taipei.
• Which record counts. Tamkang and Yuan Ze use the address in the admission committee's new-student data file. Chung Yuan uses the registration before your admission was confirmed. Chinese Culture uses your student record, and Feng Chia the student information card.
• The proof. Where schools name a document, it is usually a 戶籍謄本 issued in the last three months, with full notes (詳細記事). Tamkang does not accept the household register booklet (戶口名簿).
• Moving it for a bed. Tamkang and Yuan Ze accept no registration changes during the application period. At NTNU, moving your 戶籍 for a bed without really living there drops you to the bottom of the last tier, and after a move you attach proof such as a title deed, a court-notarized lease, or a residence certificate stamped by the village office or police station.

School examples across Taiwan

Each school's own rule, as we read it in November 2026. Rules change every year or two, so open the school's link before you apply.

→ Find any university. → Cities with universities

Groups that often come first

• Students with disabilities and low or middle-low income students are at the top at almost every school above. Some go further: at NTHU, low-income students pay no basic dorm fee; Soochow's campus dorms are free for them; Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology houses them free if they do 20 service hours a semester.
• Outlying islands and Indigenous students, usually with a minimum time registered there.
• Children of active-duty military (Fu Jen, Feng Chia).
• First-years. Guarantees differ: NCU guarantees first-years who want a bed, NSYSU guarantees years 1 and 2, and NTHU gives first-years guaranteed priority. Elsewhere, first-years come before older students but still face the 戶籍 rules.

Good to know: for low-income status, schools want official proof. Tamkang and Yuan Ze say a letter from a village chief (鄰里長) is not accepted.

International students

Most schools give international students priority in their first year. A few go further:

• NTU: priority for the first semester, through the Office of International Affairs. After that, an online application and a lottery.
• NCCU: international undergraduates have priority in years 1 and 2. International graduate students are guaranteed housing in year 1, unless they graduated from a university in Taiwan.
• NTHU: foreign first-years have priority. Priority gives you a bed, not a choice of campus or dorm. The 2026 round for new overseas graduate students was July 27 to 30.
• National Taiwan University of Science and Technology: undergraduates have priority in year 1, then a lottery for years 2 to 4. Priority beds are all in six-person rooms.
• Taipei Tech: new students can live in the dorms for their first 2 years, not guaranteed for spring intake. From year 3, a lottery.
• NCU: overseas degree students apply through the Office of International Affairs, under a quota.

Summer and winter stays

A semester bed often doesn't cover the breaks. At many schools you apply and pay separately, and residents are moved into one building.

Fu Jen lets overseas Chinese, mainland and foreign students apply first for break stays. Chinese Culture University charges break stays by the day, for students who need to stay for teaching or club activities.

What dorms cost

Shared dorm rooms at the schools below cost from about NT$6,500 to NT$21,000 a semester. Suites and international houses cost more.

• Deposit Varies: NT$1,000 at NCCU and Soochow's campus dorms, NT$1,500 each semester at NTNU, NT$2,000 at Yuan Ze, one third of the fee at NTU.
• Often extra Air-conditioning on a prepaid card (NCCU, Soochow), internet (NT$1,200 or NT$800 at Soochow, NT$639 at Tamkang), electricity (NCKU).
• Not included Bedding at NCCU and NCKU. National Dong Hwa provides no mattress.
• How you pay Usually on the tuition bill (NCCU, NTHU, Chung Yuan). Tamkang says dorm fees can be covered by a student loan.

The MOE dorm subsidy for local students

The MOE pays NT$5,000 a semester toward the dorm fee of each student who is an ROC national, enrolled and living in school housing in term time. It is NT$7,000 for low and middle-low income students and children of active-duty military. If the fee is lower, the subsidy equals the fee. You don't apply: the school takes it off your dorm bill. It doesn't cover winter or summer breaks, and international students are not eligible. School housing here includes legal off-campus housing the school leases.

→ Living costs and rent by city

Typical rules

• Cooking. No cooking in rooms at NTU, NCCU, Soochow and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. Chinese Culture University bans kettles, rice cookers, refrigerators and induction cookers. NCKU has a kitchenette in every dorm.
• Guests. No overnight guests at Soochow and National Dong Hwa, and not without permission at NTU. National Dong Hwa residents may not enter rooms of the opposite sex.
• Smoking, drinking, gambling. Smoking is banned at NTU, NCCU, Soochow and Chinese Culture University. NTU also bans drinking and gambling, and Chinese Culture bans gambling and pets.
• Entry. Fu Jen uses card-swipe entry. None of the official pages we read states a nightly curfew.
• Penalties. Some schools use violation points (NCKU, NCCU). Selling or buying a bed at NCCU leads to eviction and a 1 to 3 year ban. At NTU, missing a safety drill can end your dorm contract. At Soochow, missing the compulsory orientation puts you last in next year's lottery.
• Leaving early. At Soochow, leaving within 5 days of moving in gets a full refund. At Chung Yuan, first-years leaving within a month of classes starting get two-thirds back. At Tamkang, leaving before the year ends loses the fees and deposit, with exceptions such as graduation, exchange or serious illness.

If you don't get a bed

Join the waitlist if your school has one. Beds that are given up go to the waitlist in the school's order:

• NTU: late and unplaced applicants go on a waitlist, and returning students in the fall are placed below first-years.
• Soochow: waitlist registration August 27 to 31, open to students registered in Taipei and New Taipei too, filled by distance of registration.
• Tamkang: waitlist notices in mid-August.
• Fu Jen: once term starts, each dorm fills beds as people come, with no priority order.

Otherwise, you rent. Schools have an off-campus housing office (校外賃居) that can help.

→ Renting a room off campus

Good to know: if you live in a dorm and need proof of address for your resident certificate (ARC), National Dong Hwa says to use your dorm fee receipt. → The resident certificate (ARC)

Questions

Is a first-year student guaranteed a dorm in Taiwan?

It depends on the school. National Central University guarantees first-years a bed if they want one, and National Sun Yat-sen University guarantees years 1 and 2. Other schools put first-years first in line but still use a lottery, and some exclude local students registered in nearby districts.

Does the distance of my household registration (戶籍) decide whether I get a dorm?

At many schools, yes. Schools such as NTU, NCCU, Taipei Tech, Soochow, Chinese Culture University, Feng Chia and NCKU exclude or put last local students registered in the home city or named nearby districts. Others, such as Chung Yuan, Yuan Ze and Tamkang, rank by distance. NTHU, NCU and NCHU have no such rule in their current rules.

Do international students get a dorm?

Most schools give international students priority in their first year, and some go further: NCCU guarantees international undergraduates in years 1 and 2, and Taipei Tech says new students can live in its dorms for their first 2 years. After that, most schools use a lottery.

What happens if I am on the waitlist?

Beds that are given up go to the waitlist in the school's order. Soochow fills its waitlist from August 31 by distance of registration, Tamkang sends waitlist notices in mid-August, and at Fu Jen, once term starts, beds go to whoever comes first.

→ Arrive and live

Sources (40)

Checked November 2026.Show

Law: Household Registration Act (戶籍法), its Enforcement Rules, MOI Department of Household Registration FAQ. Ministry of Education: dorm residents by school (dataset), on-campus housing subsidy rules. Schools: NTU dorm applications, NTU dorm FAQ, NTU dorm information, NTU summer stay rules, NCCU dorm rules, NCCU fees, NCCU 2026/27 undergraduate guidelines, NCCU international housing, NCCU iHouse, NTNU dorm rules, NTHU dorm rules, NTHU 2026/27 schedule, NTHU housing (English), NCKU dorm rules, NCKU new students, NCKU break stays, NCKU fees, NCHU 2026/27 lottery notice, NCU summer 2026, NTUST housing for foreign students, Taipei Tech housing, Taipei Tech 2026/27 fees, Soochow freshman handbook, Tamkang fees, Chung Yuan housing Q&A, Chung Yuan freshman handbook, Feng Chia fees, Feng Chia summer, Tunghai returning students, Tunghai summer 2026, STUST winter 2026, STUST free housing rules, I-Shou schedule, National Dong Hwa OIA, NSYSU fact sheet, and each school's rule linked in the table above.