A Residential College at Kent State University is characterized by an individual academic college or department, which has intentionally located classrooms, labs and library support as well as faculty, advising and/or administrative offices within a specific residence hall.

These residence halls house a significant percentage of students with academic endeavors related to the respective host college. This environmental support encourages students and faculty to continue the teaching and learning process into the public spaces of the building beyond the classroom. Events, workshops, social activities, and other extra-curricular opportunities relevant to the specific host college are common in these areas, also providing an attractive convenience for the students living there. Students are loosely connected through classes by virtue of being in similar majors and courses connected to the host college.