More than 150 UMSL volunteers in gold and red T-shirts were on hand for move-in day Aug. 14. Alexis Bean (blue shirt) is one of more than 400 students who moved into UMSL’s Oak Hall this week. (Photo by August Jennewein)

The first wave of more than 400 students started moving their favorite stuffed animals and new flat-screen televisions into Oak Hall at University of Missouri–St. Louis on Aug. 14, filling it to capacity. This is the first time the undergraduate residence hall has been filled since it was completed in 2006.

Also full are Villa Residence Hall and the university’s Mansion Hill complex along South Florissant Road. More than 220 students are moving into the one- and two-bedroom apartments.

University Meadows, an on-campus apartment complex owned and managed by Campus Living Villages, is expecting a full house by the first day of classes Aug. 19.

The reasons for the increase in residential students at UMSL are varied, according to Alan Byrd, dean of enrollment at UMSL.

“We will have a record enrollment this fall for students from outside the St. Louis Metropolitan area,” Byrd said. “We will enroll our largest classes from Illinois and Kansas City this fall.”

Byrd added that an increase in returning sophomores coupled with an increase in residential scholarships all played a role in filling Oak Hall.