Officials will offer students housing in nine residence halls this spring, according to an email sent to students Monday night.

GW will open Lafayette and Francis Scott Key halls, Potomac House, 1959 E Street, One Washington Circle and The Aston to accommodate the roughly 1,500 students expected to return to campus this spring, administrators said in the email. District House and Shenkman and South halls, which currently house 500 students, will remain open next semester, according to the email.

“Please keep in mind that we are not requiring any students to return to campus,” Seth Weinshel and Stewart Robinette, two assistant deans for campus living and residential education, wrote in the joint email. “We want you to return if you feel comfortable moving during this pandemic and agree to follow both the University and the District of Columbia’s health and safety guidelines.”

Applications for on-campus housing opened Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT and will close Monday, Nov. 2 at 10 p.m. EST. Officials said students will be notified whether or not they were approved for on-campus housing by Friday, Nov. 20. Approved students will live in residence halls from Jan. 23 to May 12, the email states.

Students may not request the building of their choice to ensure “an equitable process” for those interested in applying for housing, according to the email. Students will also be entered in a lottery system for spring housing if the application pool exceeds the available number of beds.

Two students may live in an apartment-style unit, while South Hall can house up to four students – each with their own bedroom – in a single apartment unit. All students approved to live on campus will receive their own bedroom and share a bathroom with no more than one other student, according to the email.

Officials added that all other residence halls, including those on the Mount Vernon Campus and in fraternity and sorority townhouses, will remain closed. Fraternities or sororities that own their own townhouse, either on or off campus, may receive housing permission from their chapter’s national headquarters, the email states.

Administrators added that the D.C. Zoning Commission “discourages” first- and second-year students from moving to the D.C. area next semester if their permanent residence is not within commuting distance from campus.

The email states that halls with an in-unit kitchen will cost about $6,000, and halls without an in-unit kitchen – Lafayette Hall and Potomac House – are priced at about $5,700. Meal plans for students with a kitchen rest at $1,570 for the semester and $2,445.50 for those without a kitchen, according to the email.

Officials said the housing application includes “a limited number of questions,” and they will consider students’ lifestyle responses from the 2020-21 housing application sent out this summer. Students who are approved to live on campus may “preference” another suitemate before they receive their housing assignment, and first-year students may only select other first-years as potential suitemates, according to the email.

Administrators said they will deliver students their stored belongings to their new housing assignment before move-in day if students extended their storage period during the fall. The email states officials will announce by the end of November how they plan to “reunite” students living at home with their possessions in D.C.

Officials have not yet made a decision about housing options during summer 2021, the email states.