GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- Enrollment at Mesa State is expected to be up more than ten percent this year; that could figure out to more than a thousand new students.

All Mesa State freshman are required to live on campus, but right now there are more students than there are dorms. Administrators say it's a good problem to have, but it's still a problem.

"We've seen a really strong surge this year," says Vice President of Student Services John Marshall, "and it's even picked up this first week of classes."

Marshall says enrollment is increasing every year.

"Last year we had a 14 percent increase, which was one of the largest in the history of the school," he says. "We're on pace to be double digits again."

Many of those new freshman are excited to live on campus.

"I wanted to get the whole experience of the college and meet new people that way," says incoming Freshman Kassey Petschl.

She got into a dorm right off the bat, but others weren't so lucky. About 40 students are being put up in a hotel while they wait for dorms to open up.

Mesa State says the hotel overflow is nothing new, but they are working to prevent it.

"We're adding more capacity as we speak," Marshall says. "They're just pouring the foundation on our next residence hall."

The new dorm will add about 300 more beds, but by then, the problem may have caught right back up with them. Marshall says they went through this same process two years ago.

The dorm shortage might not be a bad thing; Petschl looks forward to getting out of living on campus next year.

"Your sophomore year you were supposed to [live on campus]," Petschl says, "but with so many people coming in I heard you can live off campus."

Mesa State administrators say the number of students in the hotel is dropping every day. The school says they can usually get everyone settled in somewhere on campus within a few weeks.