Graduate resident advisors at the University of Pennsylvania have been told a long-time perk is gone: no more free on-campus summer housing. The news, delivered in a Feb. 18 internal update, has many graduate students who lean on those rooms for research, teaching, or lab work suddenly staring down new bills and short-term housing headaches.
The Feb. 18 update, obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian, instructs graduate RAs to move out of their current assignments by May 19, with summer housing slated to open May 23. The message directs students to submit summer housing requests through Penn Hospitality Services and states that eligible applicants "will be charged at the published student room rates" instead of receiving complimentary summer accommodations. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, a request for comment was left with College Houses and Academic Services.
Per Penn Residential Services, summer 2025 options included a private apartment at $75 per night ($525 per week) and a private bedroom with a shared bath at $60 per night ($420 per week), each requiring a minimum stay of five weeks. The university’s published College House room rates also climbed this academic year, with the base room charge set at $13,132 for 2025–26. That backdrop helps explain why students are calling the policy shift especially painful. For stipend-dependent graduate RAs, those summer fees can quickly stack into thousands of dollars on already tight budgets.
Outside a College Houses National RA Appreciation Day event at the Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, members of United RAs at Penn staged a protest, hoisting signs declaring they would “rather be housed than have a smoothie,” The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. United RAs and allied groups have launched a petition demanding Penn reverse the decision. The petition, hosted on Action Network and sponsored by OPEIU Local 153, argues the move could push GRAs to "couch-surf" or resort to riskier short-term housing setups.
Union Context And What Comes Next
The timing of the announcement is not lost on campus organizers. Graduate student workers with Graduate Employees Together, part of the UAW, recently reached a tentative agreement with Penn that averted a strike, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Leaders of United RAs say the decision to remove free summer housing for GRAs right now looks retaliatory and warn it could trigger formal grievances, more protests, or renewed organizing as students and unions press administrators to roll the policy back.
For now, United RAs say they will keep organizing, gathering signatures, and pushing College Houses and Academic Services and Penn administrators for clarity and relief. Organizers report that the Action Network petition has already generated hundreds of letters from supporters. The university has not reversed course, and graduate resident advisors are juggling summer housing applications and backup plans as the May deadline approaches.
