Although it is still too early to speculate, the signs point to residence halls being at full capacity again next fall.”I hope they will be,” said Adam Griffin, resident director. “The contracts are already starting to come in. We have about 300 so far. Being at full capacity is a good thing. The attitude is better when we are full.”Doug Carnahan, dean of students, said there are a number of reasons why the residence halls are so popular now.”One reason for the interest in living in the residence halls is that we are able to keep costs low,” Carnahan said. “Of the major universities in this state, we are still one of the least expensive places for on-campus housing. “Another reason for interest may be our private rooms. Usually we have a waiting list for private rooms. They are really popular. In the last 30 years that I have been with this University, I’ve found that interest in residence halls is cyclical. Some years it’s not “cool” to live on campus. Right now we are on a peak and interest is up.” Last fall, there was a waiting list for rooms in the residence halls. Both Griffin and Carnahan stress that students who are waiting next year will be taken care of. “We’ve had kids who stay in motels, if they’re on the top of the list,” Carnahan said. “If there are more than a few, in the past we’ve asked people in the community to accommodate housing for the students, but this is rare. We know that we’ll eventually have openings for waiting students.””Last year we only had about 10 people on the waiting list,” Griffin said. “A few contracts came in at the last minute, but we never had more than 10 waiting for a spot. Eventually a few students drop or move off campus, and spots open.”Griffin said students who are returning to campus should not worry just yet about not having a room next fall.”Hopefully returning students already have their contracts in if they are planning to stay at the dorms,” Griffin said. “But if they don’t, they have an opportunity to place themselves at the housing fair.”The housing fair will be from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 17.”If they want to guarantee who their roommates will be, they need to turn the contracts in before or at the fair,” Griffin said. “Otherwise we will place students as the contracts come in and upperclassmen will not have a preference.”