As Northwest College rolls out the welcome mat for new and returning students, more are opting to live on campus.

“Occupancy in the halls continues to trend up,” NWC President Lisa Watson said at a mid August board meeting.

There are 334 students slated to enter residence halls this fall, up from 321 last year.

The trend has been rising for a few years, as there were 306 students in the halls at the start of the 2022 school year, up about 40 students from 2021.

The evidence of increasing campus residents was on full display Saturday, as families were busy helping move students into the halls soon after opening as part of kickoff weekend.

It’s not just the traditional residence halls that are growing in popularity. The apartments at Trapper Main are at full occupancy and Trapper West is at 71% for units available to be rented.

Watson said with housing so tight in Powell, she has been asked by companies whether she would rent out those extra apartments to the public — currently they are only rented to students and employees.

She said that’s not the goal of the college to compete with private sector for renters.

“We’re not trying to run 100 units for the public,” she said, adding that they have helped specific entities such as the hospital in the past when it needed space for certain employees.

Recently,  she said they’ve been able to use the old barracks at Trapper West for certain students, such as those commuting from another city for classes each week, who need the space while doing specific CTE programs such as nursing.

“We’re trying to make it as efficient as we can,” Watson said.