USC Move In and Move Out Guide for Parents

Move in, fall 2026

USC Housing ran undergraduate move in from Sunday, August 16 to Wednesday, August 19, 2026. The Fall 2026 Arriving Guide set August 16 and 17 for McCarthy Honors College and August 18 and 19 for everyone else. Every undergraduate had to book a move in appointment on the Housing portal, and the guide warned that arriving without one could mean being turned away or waiting a long time.

How check in works

There is no single check in desk. Each building reports to its own Customer Service Center (CSC). Pardee and Marks residents check in at 614 Hellman Way and Cardinal Gardens residents at 3131 McClintock Ave., for example, while all USC Village residents check in at the driveway behind McCarthy Honors College, 3096 McClintock Ave. Your student should bring a photo ID, and the QR code Housing emails before arrival makes check in faster. Students who need to arrive after August 19 are asked to email their CSC as soon as possible and follow up by phone.

Unloading and parking

Unloading zones are temporary, and university officers enforce the time limit. After unloading, move the car to the designated parking for that area. North University Park (Cardinal Gardens, Century, Sierra, Troy) has no special unloading setup, but the nearby university lots open for unloading without a permit during move in.

What the room includes

Most rooms come with an extra long twin bed (36 by 80 inches), a desk, a desk chair, dresser drawers, and closet space. University Gateway has full size beds. Residence halls have a combined microwave and fridge unit. Apartments add living and dining furniture plus a stove, oven, and refrigerator. Students bring their own linens, toiletries, and electronics, and apartment residents bring cooking and eating utensils. Housing cannot remove or store the furniture already in the room.

What not to bring

USC Housing bans pets (except fish in a tank of 10 gallons or less), air conditioning units, satellite dishes, WiFi routers, and electric scooters and electric bikes. Candles, decorative lights, halogen torchiere lamps, and barbecues are out, as are Command Strips, contact paper outside of drawers, and glow in the dark stickers. Hot plates, toaster ovens, and other cooking appliances are not allowed in rooms without kitchens.

Early arrival and shipping ahead

Early arrival is only for students in eligible programs, costs $75 a night, and nothing opens before Saturday, August 15. Housing will not hold packages that arrive before your student does, so schedule shipped boxes to land after check in.

Winter break

Residence halls close from December 16, 2026 through January 7, 2027, with residents out by 5 p.m. on December 16. Your student can leave belongings in the room and keep the key. Apartments stay open.

Move out, May 2027

The 2026 to 2027 Living Agreement ends residence hall contracts at 5 p.m. on May 12, 2027, and says a contract expires at noon the day after the resident's last final if that comes sooner. Staying past that without permission costs $200 a day.

The most recent published checkout guide, the Spring 2026 Check Out Guide, shows the usual routine. Each resident turns in keys at the CSC. An Express Check Out form covers students leaving after the CSC closes. Keys not returned within 48 hours result in a lock change. Belongings left behind are discarded and residents may be charged for removal labor, along with a $50 abandonment fee for an improper checkout. That year, graduating seniors could request to stay until noon on Friday, May 15 by submitting a request by April 17.

Storage, shipping, and mail

The spring 2026 guide states that USC does not have storage facilities and that private storage companies operate in the area. The usual choices are a self storage unit near campus, shipping boxes home with a carrier such as USPS, UPS, or FedEx (USC Village has a FedEx Office), or loading a car.

Plan for mail too. The US Postal Service will not forward mail from USC housing addresses in the 90089 ZIP code, and in 2026 on campus CSCs forwarded mail only until June 30. Update addresses on accounts and subscriptions before May.

Donations

USC Housing and the Department of Public Safety have run move out donation drives before. In May 2022 they partnered with One World Clothing and Shoes and Goodwill and collected clothing, bedding, canned food, microwaves, lamps, and bikes. Ask your student's CSC whether a 2027 drive is planned.