On-Campus Housing Mail and Package Services
All residential students are able to receive U.S. Postal mail and package deliveries from major delivery agents (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, Amazon) while living in University Housing. Items that are delivered locally, such as floral arrangements and perishable items, are received by the Commons Desk as well. However, items delivered from restaurants, retail or grocery stores, or third-party companies such as Instacart, GoPuff, DoorDash, etc., are NOT accepted at the Commons Desk. Students are responsible for meeting the driver to receive those deliveries.
Items that are marked as 'perishable' will be stored in a refrigerator. Mail and packages can only be released to the student and cannot be picked up by other individuals.
Tips to ensure proper delivery:
- "Penn State" or "The Pennsylvania State University" should NOT be used in the address, line 1 and line 2 need to have the appropriate information to ensure prompt delivery.
- Mail and packages must be addressed to the student's legal or chosen name that is identified in LionPATH.
- Mail and packages sent to family names, nicknames, fictitious or joke names will be returned to sender. Family members who use their personal account to have items shipped to campus are reminded change the name on the order to the student's name, otherwise the package will be returned to sender.
- Packages should be tracked and insured.
- The following items should never be mailed in an envelope: cash, check, gift cards, candy, room key, or liquids.
- Prohibited items per the HFS Contract will not be released and will be returned to sender (for example, air conditioners, alcohol, escooters, etc.)
Mailing Addresses
Please use the proper Mailing Address to ensure prompt and accurate delivery.
If Nittany Lion is assigned to 316 Pennypacker Hall, the proper format would be:
Nittany Lion
Pennypacker Hall room 316, EAST
459 Bigler Road
University Park, PA 16802
Mailing Addresses
| Area/Building | Mailing Address |
|---|---|
| East Halls: Bigler, Brumbaugh, Curtin, Earle, Geary, Hastings, Martin, McKean, Packer, Pennypacker, Pinchot, Snyder, Sproul, Stone, Stuart, Tener |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, East 459 Bigler Road University Park, PA 16802 |
| Eastview Terrace: Brill, Curry, Harris Miller, Nelson, Panofsky, Young |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, South 475 E College Ave University Park, PA 16802 |
| North Halls: Beam, Holmes, Leete, Robinson, Runkle |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, North 472 Shortlidge Road University Park, PA 16802 |
| Nittany Apartments and Nittany Hall |
Student Name Nittany Hall/APT & Room Number, Pollock 138 Bluestar Way University Park, PA 16802 |
| Pollock Halls: Beaver, Hartranft, Hiester, Mifflin, Porter, Shulze, Shunk |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, Pollock 138 Bluestar Way University Park, PA 16802 |
| South Halls: Atherton, Chace, Cooper, Cross, Ewing, Haller, Hibbs, Hoyt, Lyons, McElwain, Simmons, Stephens |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, South 475 E College Avenue University Park, PA 16802 |
| West Halls: Hamilton, Irvin, Jordan, McKee, Thompson, Watts |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, West 362 N Burrowes Road University Park, PA 16802 |
| White Course Undergraduate Apartments: Dunham, Garban, Grubb |
Student Name Hall Name & Room Number, White Course 236 Duff Drive University Park, PA 16802 |
| Graduate and Family Apartments: Bernreuter, Cunningham, Donkin, Farrell, Ferguson, Haffner, Holderman, Ikenberry, Lovejoy, Osborn, Palladino, Patterson, Ray |
Tenant Name Hall Name & Room Number, White Course 236 Duff Drive University Park, PA 16802 |
Mailing Address Issues
Experiencing issues with entering the mailing address in a vendor's system?
Residence hall street addresses are in the United States Postal Services (USPS) address database. If a vendor has not recently updated their integration between their system and the USPS database, their system may not recognize the address. If the option is available, 'accept address you entered' or 'override' the address format.
USPS address database
Enter the street address for the residence hall in the 'street address' section. In the 'apt/suite/other' section, enter the residence hall name / room number / housing area. Enter city (University Park), state (PA), zip code (16802).
>>> The 'apt/suite/other' section is NOT required by USPS and may not be recognized. However, this information is required by the University to assist with distribution and sorting of mail and packages. Failure to include this information may result in mail and packages being returned to sender.
Processing
U.S. Mail and packages received for on-campus residents are processed through the University's eLiving system. When mail or a package is delivered to the Commons Desk, the staff will enter the package into eLiving under the student's account and place the package on the appropriate building shelving unit. The student will be notified by an email to their Penn State account that an item is available to pick-up. Students can also opt-in for text message notification through the Account Settings page on their eLiving account. The student must present their Penn State id+ Card or mobile credential to pick up mail and packages at the Commons Desk.
Please be aware that there is a processing delay between when the package is identified as delivered by the shipping agent and when the package is processed by Penn State. Students should not go to the Commons Desk to retrieve their package until they have received the email from eLiving.
The U.S. Postal Office in McAllister Building (next to the HUB-Robeson Center) on campus is available for students to send packages or buy stamps; the Commons Desk is not able to ship packages or sell stamps.
The University no longer provides mailboxes for students; all mail is processed similar to a package.
Forwarding Address
Once a student moves out of University Housing and does not plan to return for the next semester, the student is responsible for updating their permanent address through the Penn State Account Management (psu.edu). Any US Postal Mail received after the student has checked out of University Housing will be forwarded. Mail that cannot be forwarded will be returned to sender.
All packages will be returned to sender, as the University is not able to forward packages.
Make sure that you change your shipping address on websites when placing online orders.
Missing U.S. Postal Services Mail
If a student believes that they are missing United States Postal Services mail, or has received mail that has been tampered with, the student should submit a claim form either by calling the Inspector General at 888-USPSOIG or submitting online at www.uspsoig.gov/hotline.
Room Assignment Changes
If a student moves to a new room assignment during the semester, the student's mailing address will change as well. Any U.S. Mail and packages received at the Commons Desk of original room assignment will be forwarded to the Commons Desk of the new room assignment until the student can update information with family and friends. There may be a delay for items to be transferred.
Campus Mail Services
Multimedia Print Services provides Campus Mail Services to the campus community outside of University Housing.