The freshman fridge question, answered

Is your mini-fridge allowed at your school?

Every housing office sets its own limits — fridge sizes and microwave wattages swing almost 2× school to school, and about a quarter don’t let you bring your own at all. Pick your school and we’ll show you its actual published rule, straight from the housing office, plus fridges and microwaves that fit under it.

Start here — pick your school:
Browse all schools

Not sure of the exact name? The lookup tool and full comparison list every school we cover.

25schools with source-locked rules
13fridges & microwaves with published specs
12schools that restrict personal units
142within-limit matches computed
Students hanging out together in a college dorm room on move-in day

How it works

Three steps, about a minute

Find your school

Pick it from the list. We cover 25 universities and add more each season.

Read the actual rule

See the fridge and microwave limits in the school’s own words, with a link to the page we pulled them from.

Buy something that fits

We show units whose published specs land under your school’s cap, then link you to the store.

A modern dorm room with bunk beds, privacy curtains, and built-in under-bed storage
Photo: cottonbro studio on Pexels
Straight talk: we show you what your school published, quoted word-for-word with a link and the date we read it. We’re not the school and we don’t approve anything — rules change and halls differ, so give your school’s housing page a look before you check out.

Rules genuinely differ

A few schools, side by side

The same 4.0 cu ft fridge is within limit at some schools and over at others. That is the whole point of checking yours.

University of Central Florida

Personal fridge up to 5 cu ft Personal microwave up to 1000 W FL

Arizona State University

Personal fridge up to 4 cu ft Personal microwave up to 700 W AZ

Clemson University

Personal fridge up to 3.6 cu ft No personal microwave allowed SC

Ohio State University

No personal fridge allowed No personal microwave allowed OH

University of Washington

Personal fridge up to 4.4 cu ft Personal microwave up to 700 W WA

University of Florida

Personal fridge up to 12 cu ft Personal microwave up to 1500 W FL
Students hanging out in a bright dorm room — one on a bunk with a laptop, others by the window with a guitar
Photo: cottonbro studio on Pexels

Why this exists

The school’s own page is dense. This is the fast answer.

Every housing office publishes appliance rules, but they’re buried in policy PDFs and use three different measurement systems (watts, cubic feet, amps). We read the official page, quote the exact rule, and match it to real products’ published specs — so you can buy once, correctly.

Look up your school How we verify rules

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