Tulane Freshman Dorms: The 6 First-Year Halls

Tulane's freshman dorms are six halls on the uptown campus: Butler, Josephine Louise, Monroe, Sharp, Wall and Warren. In 2026-27 a double room in five of them costs $11,638 for the year before a required dining plan, and first-years state preferences but cannot pick their hall.

Which Tulane dorms are for freshmen?

The Tulane dorms for freshmen in 2026-27 are Butler, Josephine Louise (JL), Monroe, Sharp, Wall and Warren, per each hall's page on Housing and Residence Life and the admission office's student housing page. Eliana, our Campus Lead and a current Tulane student, describes the middle of campus as "where all the dorms are. That's where like the food areas are."

| Hall | Rooms | Bathrooms | Learning community, 2026-27 | |---|---|---|---| | Butler | Doubles | Community | Ignite | | Josephine Louise | Singles, doubles and triples | Common, with a sink in each room | None | | Monroe | Singles and doubles | Community | Global New Orleans, Turning the Tide Scholars | | Sharp | Doubles | Community | Explore | | Wall | Singles, doubles and triples | Attached to the room | Kaleidoscope | | Warren | Singles and doubles, plus a few suite doubles | Common; suite bath in a few suite doubles | 1963 Collective |

All six halls are coed. For 2026-27, Wall also hosts the Gender Affirming Housing Cluster and a faculty member who lives in the building with their family. Warren has two parts: Old Warren opened in 1927, and New Warren was added in 1952 (Warren Hall).

Almost every first-year lives in one of these halls: 97% of Tulane first-years lived in college housing in fall 2025 (Common Data Set 2025-26). The newer halls on campus, Lake, River, Bayou and Fogelman, house returning students.

How much does a Tulane freshman dorm cost?

A Tulane freshman dorm costs $11,638 for a double room in a community-style hall in 2026-27, per Tulane's housing rates, which the page marks "tentative and subject to approval by the Board of Administrators."

2026-27 rates for the rooms first-years live in, for the full year:

Community-style double (Butler, JL, Monroe, Sharp, Warren): $11,638
Community-style single (JL, Monroe, Warren): $13,518
Triple (JL; Wall's expanded triple): $11,206
Wall expanded double: $12,080
Suite-style double (Wall; Warren's suite doubles): $13,264
Suite-style single (Wall): $14,120
Double with a private bath (Wall, Warren): $14,462
Single with a private bath (Wall): $15,084

A dining plan comes on top. First- and second-years in the halls choose Unlimited 250 ($4,390 a semester), Unlimited 500 ($4,640) or Kosher ($5,695), per Tulane's 2026-27 Dining Plan Contract. The Unlimited plans include at least $250 or $500 a semester in Wavebuck$, the dining cash.

Our sum: a community double ($11,638) plus two semesters of Unlimited 250 ($8,780) is $20,418 for 2026-27. Tulane's Common Data Set put food and housing at $19,630 for 2025-26.

Can freshmen choose their dorm at Tulane?

No, Tulane freshmen cannot choose their dorm outright. The housing agreement "does not guarantee assignment to a particular hall or room" (rates and housing agreement), and "Room and roommate preferences are considered when possible, but are not guaranteed" (new student housing information), as of October 2026.

What a family can do:

Apply on time. For fall 2027, the housing application for incoming first-years opens March 1, 2027 and closes May 7, 2027 (important dates). A completed application guarantees a first-time student a room.
Apply to a learning community. Students apply to a Residential Learning Community inside the housing application, and each community is housed in one hall: Ignite in Butler, Global New Orleans and Turning the Tide Scholars in Monroe, Explore in Sharp, Kaleidoscope in Wall, 1963 Collective in Warren (RLC page).
Group with a roommate. In 2026 the grouping window ran June 3 to 18. Students who skip it are assigned a roommate.
Watch for mid-July. 2026 assignments were scheduled for mid-July, and first-years moved in August 9 to 11.

Our guide for admitted students covers the rest of the first-year calendar.

What comes in a Tulane freshman dorm room?

A Tulane freshman dorm room comes with a height-adjustable Twin XL bed, a memory foam mattress, a desk, chair, dresser, closet or wardrobe, and a Microfridge, a mini fridge and microwave in one, per the first-year hall pages on Housing and Residence Life as of October 2026.

Size. "The average room size in first-year halls is 12ft x 15ft for two people" (fall move-in).
The bed. Twin XL, adjustable up to 30 inches high.
Air conditioning. Tulane's admission office lists air conditioning among hall amenities, with study lounges, kitchenettes, laundry and internet (student housing).
Shipping. In 2026, boxes that arrived July 15 to 31 went straight to the room before move-in, six free per student and $10 a box after that (fall move-in).
Security. Card access coded to each hall's residents, exterior doors locked 24 hours a day, and contracted guards in each hall from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., per Tulane's 2026 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

Where do Tulane freshmen eat?

Tulane freshmen eat at the Malkin Sacks Commons, the main dining hall, and at three other spots that take meal swipes. Tulane calls the Commons "steps away from student residences"; it opened in 2019, seats more than 1,000, and connects by a walkway to the Lavin-Bernick Center (Tulane News, May 2023).

Where a meal swipe works, per Dining Plans 101 as of October 2026, which also lists The Opening Bell, though that cafe's own page does not mention swipes:

the dining room at Malkin Sacks Commons
Green Wave Grille, at Yulman Stadium
Surfing Pelican
Rimon, the kosher restaurant at Tulane Hillel on Broadway, on the Kosher plan only

The Lavin-Bernick Center food court takes Wavebuck$, the dining cash that comes with each plan. Meal swipes "expire at the end of each semester," and Wavebuck$ roll over from fall to spring when a spring plan is bought.

To see the first-year side of campus with a current student, a private Uptown New Orleans tour is $150 for your family, 60 to 90 minutes, any day of the week.

Frequently asked questions

Do Tulane dorms have air conditioning?

Yes, Tulane dorms have air conditioning: the admission office lists it among residence hall amenities, and the 2026-27 housing agreement says the university will provide "reasonable amounts of air-conditioning, heat, water, and electricity during the occupancy period." No hall page says what kind of system each building uses.

Where do Tulane sophomores and juniors live?

Tulane sophomores and juniors live on campus too, because students who started as first-years in fall 2023 or later must live on campus for their first three years, per Housing and Residence Life as of October 2026. The four newest halls, Lake and River (2023) and Bayou and Fogelman (2025), house nearly 1,500 sophomores and juniors, per Tulane's alumni magazine in fall 2025.

Are Tulane freshman dorms coed?

Yes, all six Tulane freshman dorms are coed, per Tulane's admission office as of October 2026. Butler is coed by floor and Monroe by wing, and JL, Sharp, Wall and Warren are each described as a coed community.

Sources, read October 29, 2026: Tulane Housing and Residence Life, residence halls · Housing rates and agreement · New student housing information · Residential Learning Communities · Fall move-in · Tulane dining plans · Tulane admission, student housing · Important dates · Residency requirements · Tulanian, fall 2025 · 2026 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report · Common Data Set