Graduate Housing FAQs

Monthly: We charge rent monthly. The charge is for the next month’s rent.

UA account: Rent is charged to your UA Bursar’s account.

UAccess Student Center: You make payments for charges to your UA account online in the UAccess Student Center. Credit cards can only be used online to pay bursar bills. The Bursar's office will not take them in person or over the phone. 

Date on UA statement: Rent is due by the date specified on your UA billing statement from the UA Bursar. The Bursar's Office, not La Aldea, determines the billing schedule and rental due dates.

• Rent is the same as any other UA bill: It can be paid either online (through your UAccess Student Center account) or in person at the Bursar’s Office. The Bursar accepts most major credit cards and personal checks (Note: credit cards can only be used ONLINE to pay bursar bills. They will not take them in person or over the phone.) 
• If you pay late, you incur late fees: If you pay La Aldea rent after the due date, the UA Bursar’s Office will assess late charges.
  • La Aldea cannot reverse those charges.
  • Please speak to the Bursar's Office directly about any late charges.
  • Tuition comes first: When you pay any University bill online (through your UAccess Student Center account), your money first covers any unpaid tuition & fees before covering La Aldea rent.
  • It’s normal to have a large balance on your UA account at the beginning of the semester.
  • Therefore, it is possible your payments will be directed to tuition & fees rather than rent (despite your intentions!).
  • Nonetheless, you are still responsible for paying the full balance of your La Aldea rent before the due date.

• Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. 
• Saturday-Sunday from 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.

• The Program Manager for Graduate Experience is available on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and is the direct supervisor of the GRA staff. The Program Manager handles wider building issues, La Aldea-related conduct cases, and individual resident needs and concerns.
• The La Aldea Front Desk Staff is composed of Desk Assistants, supervised by a Desk Manager. These are student employees who sort the mail and keep the office open in the evenings and on weekends. They can check out equipment to residents, give building tours, and answer basic questions about graduate housing.

If you would like to arrange a meeting with the Community Director, you may either come in to the La Aldea Office during normal business hours or send an email to laaldea@arizona.edu. If the Community Director is not in the front office when you come visit, the Desk Assistant can leave a message on your behalf.

There are seven Graduate Resident Assistants (GRAs) who live in the La Aldea community. A GRA is on duty every night of the year. Each resident has a GRA assigned to their particular area of the building. The GRAs work to implement events and programming for the community. They assist with check-ins and check-outs of apartments, health and safety inspections, and roommate mediations upon request. They are friendly and experienced graduate students who act as great resources for our residents in a variety of ways.

• There is a GRA on Duty every night between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. They can be reached by calling (520) 307-2092. Call the GRA on Duty for noise complaints, lockouts, or other emergencies. Please note that the GRA on Duty cannot get your packages from the mailroom after hours.
• If you have a medical or otherwise potentially life-threatening emergency, please dial 911. 
• For other non-emergency needs, you may contact the University of Arizona Police Department at (520) 621-UAPD (621-8273). This is a good resource for reporting theft or suspicious behavior around campus. The UAPD website can provide additional information.

• If you are locked-out during regular office hours, please go to the La Aldea office to receive a lockout key. Each resident receives two free lock-outs for the entire time they live at La Aldea. After your first two lock-outs, you will be charged a $20 fee for each subsequent lockout.
• If you are locked out after hours, you can call the CRA on Duty between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The GRA can let you in to your apartment using a master key, but they cannot issue you a lockout key. If you have lost your keys, you will need to go to the front office when it opens to receive a spare key.
• If you lose your keys for any reason, the corresponding locks will be changed at your expense and new keys will be issued ($60 per lock).

Each apartment has one mailbox. You will be issued a mailbox key upon check-in. Mail is delivered, sorted and, placed in mailboxes each day (except for Sunday). We work with the schedule of the US Postal Service and do our best to be timely in sorting and placing mail in mailboxes. Packages that are too large to fit in your mailbox are logged and kept in the front office. A Delivery Notice slip will be placed in your mailbox to let you know that you have a package. To retrieve your package, please bring your Delivery Notice slip to the office during business hours with your CatCard. You can only sign for your own package—not your roommate’s. Please do not ask for mail that has not been sorted; you can only pick up packages once you have received a Delivery Notice.

La Aldea has its own team of custodial and maintenance staff. They are responsible for keeping La Aldea safe, clean, and beautiful. If something in your apartment or in the community needs any kind of routine maintenance work, please fill out a maintenance request in My UAHome. A maintenance request grants staff permission to access apartments to complete the work request. Residents need not be present at the time of work. Staff will usually leave a note and respond within 48 hours, if not sooner.

For issues with your wireless connection, wired connection, or phone please call the 24/7 IT Support Center at (520) 626-8324(TECH). For issues with TV services, please submit a maintenance request through My UAHome.

• Community Room: All La Aldea residents have access to our beautiful Community Room. This room is a great place to study, watch TV, and socialize. The GRA staff also uses this space to host community events. You may reserve the Community Room for a personal event by speaking with our Community Director in the front office. The doors of the Community Room are locked, but both your CatCard and your apartment key can be used to open them.
• Exercise Room: All La Aldea residents have access to the exercise room. This room is located on the Southwest side of the Community Room, and can be accessed be entering the Community Room and heading down the hallway to the right.
• Study Room/Graduate Writing Center: There is a small Study Room located by the mailboxes. This space is great for quiet studying or small group work. It is also utilized by the Think Tank's Graduate Writing Center for Graduate Writing Circles. Your apartment key opens the door to the Study Room. With the exception of the Graduate Writing Circles and other staff needs, we do not offer reservations to residents for this room—it is available on a first come, first served basis.

You must contact the La Aldea Front Office to discuss your intent to vacate La Aldea at the end of your contract term. Failure to make the necessary arrangements at the end of the term, or leaving La Aldea in the middle of the term, may result in penalty fees.

Unlike our undergraduate dorms, La Aldea remains open during all University breaks and closures. You are not required to leave your apartment during Winter Break. The La Aldea front office, however, does periodically close or alter its operating hours during certain holidays—any changes to office hours are announced to residents in advance.

Yes. If you do not like the taste of the tap water, you can purchase a variety of water pitchers with filters which can ameliorate this problem. However, we caution you against the more expensive filtration systems that attach directly to the faucet. Over time, hard water can cause them to calcify, making them very difficult to remove at the end of the year and possibly resulting in damage to the faucet (for which you can be charged).

As noted in the License Agreement, you can arrange to switch to a new apartment or to a different bedroom in your current apartment if there is space available. There is a Transfer Fee of $50 for switching your housing assignment in the middle of a contract term. Residents who are planning to renew their contract with La Aldea for the next academic year are permitted to pick a new apartment or bedroom for free if the switch is completed after the current contract has expired.

It is always best to handle even seemingly minor disagreements with your roommate as soon as they occur by exercising good communication skills. At the beginning of the year, we provide you with a Roommate Agreement to help you facilitate early discussions with your roommates regarding mutual expectations you have for living together. If a conflict arises that is too difficult to handle yourself, please speak to your GRA and/or the Community Director. The Community Director can help you schedule mediation between you, your roommate/s, and one or two members of the GRA staff, who are trained to help you navigate such issues.

If you notice that your roommate is engaging in behavior that is in violation of the Policies & Procedures for Dorm Living, or could be harmful to themselves or others, please notify a staff member immediately. 

Yes. In the 1st-floor trash rooms (located near gates C and D), there are bins with blue lids for recycling. You can use these for plastic bottles, paper, paperboard (like a cereal box), and cans. Corrugated cardboard (the hard kind that shipping boxes are made of) should be flattened and added to the wire cages also found in the trash rooms. Plastic bags are not recyclable and should not be put into mixed recycling containers, even if you carried your items to the trash room that way. Recycling should be put into the bin and then the bag should be thrown away in the trash. 

La Aldea is conveniently located next to Tyndall Parking Garage (parking permits are available for purchase through UA Parking & Transportation Services. There are also several other parking lots and options available (intended for both long-term and short-stay parking) located nearby. 

Please click here for a virtual tour video. 

**FOR SECURITY AND SAFETY PURPOSES, STUDENTS MUST BE SIGNED INTO THEIR UNIVERSITY GOOGLE ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO ACCESS THE FLOOR PLANS. Click here

These floor plans are from the University's Planning Design & Construction, Real Estate department and therefore are a representation of the building, but may not be updated or accurate. The size of the actual room may vary from the plans.

The floor plans should help give you an idea of where the apartment is located in relation to the elevators and/or stairs.

You can print your mailing address room on your Application Status page at the end of the application in My UAHome. You may also send an email to housing@arizona.edu from your UArizona Catmail and include your Student ID# with your request. We can fill out a Rental Verification form for future, present and/or past residents. Please note it may take a few business days to complete your verification request.