GCU Move In and Move Out Guide for Parents

Before move in day

GCU's New Student Housing Guide lists the steps in order: get access to the housing application in the Housing Portal, pay the $250 application fee (nonrefundable), select a bed and a meal plan, sign the contract, submit the Fall Arrival Plan, submit immunizations through the Student Portal checklist and print the curbside voucher. Approved immunizations are required before your student can get a curbside appointment. Campus housing is for admitted undergraduate campus students ages 17 to 25.

During housing selection, your student also chooses a 45 minute curbside appointment. Welcome Programs is direct about it: show up too late or miss the appointment and your student picks a new time from the limited options left. If you are driving straight from the airport, leave room for traffic.

How curbside move in works

For fall 2026, new students moved in Monday, Aug 31 and Tuesday, Sept 1 from 6 am to 10 pm, and Wednesday, Sept 2 from 6 am to noon.

1. Load the car and bring the printed move in voucher. It covers one parking spot in front of your student's building, and any other vehicles are directed elsewhere to unload.
2. Moving trucks longer than 20 feet are sent to a separate oversized parking area.
3. Your student gets a Campus Cruiser, a large moving box on wheels.
4. After unloading, move the car to the assigned parking garage to make room for the next student.

Move in day also has two events for families: New Student Commissioning, followed right away by Parent and Family Orientation, with a Spanish language session running at the same time. Welcome Programs says that once those and move in are done, your family requirements are finished, though you are welcome to stay for the rest of Welcome Week.

What the room already has

GCU housing comes furnished, and the housing page says each furnished apartment includes a Twin XL bed and desk. Apartments add a full kitchen. Housing charges typically cover water, electricity and internet, every resident chooses a meal plan, and quiet hours typically run 10 pm to 10 am. Welcome Programs links a Residence Life approved shopping list on Amazon from its move in page. For anything not on that list, ask Housing Operations at (602) 639-6240 or housing@gcu.edu before you pack it.

Spring move in

The University Calendar lists spring move in on Sunday, Jan 3, 2027, the day before classes start.

The December closure

GCU's housing policy says all student housing is closed for Christmas break and residents must leave campus. The University Calendar lists living areas as closed for all students on Sunday, Dec 20, 2026. Spring move in is only two weeks later, so ask Housing Operations what can stay in the room over break before your student packs everything.

April move out

The move out deadline for the year is Monday, April 26, 2027, the day after the spring term ends and three days after the last day of face to face instruction. Students follow the move out information Housing Operations provides.

If things get left behind, the housing policy says Residence Life works with Facilities to store property declared abandoned for up to ten days. After that, it may be donated or discarded.

Summer housing is offered only on a limited basis in select living areas.

Storage and shipping home

When your student cannot fly home with everything, the usual paths are:

1. Ship boxes with a national carrier such as USPS, UPS or FedEx. Ask the Mail Center at (602) 639-7905 whether it handles outgoing boxes, or use a carrier store near campus.
2. Rent a self storage unit in the Phoenix area for the summer and pick it up in August.
3. Ask about summer housing if your student is staying for a summer session or job.

Whichever you choose, set it up before the last week of April, since the deadline falls so soon after classes end.