KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Western Michigan University's campus was filled with students and their families Thursday as they moved in for the new school year.
University officials tell FOX 17 "it's a great time to be a Bronco"— as the amount of students returning this fall to live on campus sets records.
“As soon as I saw the moving days, I was like, 'get me on campus as soon as I can,'” Doug Gettleson, an incoming freshman, said.
Gettleson, who was there with his parents, told us he's been waiting for this day since he first laid eyes on the Kalamazoo campus.
"I've been looking forward to this all summer. As soon as I did my tour here, I was like, I committed the day after my tour. I knew this was the school for me," Gettleson recalled.
WMU faculty and staff say one of their greatest joys is seeing so many students returning to on-campus housing.
"We have about 39% of our freshman students that returned to our residence halls this year as sophomores, and that is a record number," Campus Life Associate Vice President Barry Olson said.
Meanwhile, many upperclassmen also chose to live on campus this year, further boosting the housing demand.
"We have a finite number of spaces. We have roughly 1,000 apartment beds. We know that we have thousands of students that are going to need apartments, so availability just is always going to be a challenge," Olson added.
Right now, on-campus apartments are full, but there are a few rooms still available in the residence halls.
"As the year rolls on, we have some students that change their minds and may not show up, and so within the next ten days is really when we start to measure all of those markers," Olson explained. "But absolutely, if somebody is looking for a place to stay and they want to live in a residence hall, we'd love to have them."
Move-in continues through Saturday. Students still looking for a place to live should reach out to Housing and Residence Life.
