WILMINGTON -- More students at UNC Wilmington are living on campus this fall than ever before, with many of them moving in on Saturday. It was an event many students looked forward to for a while.

"Since the fifth grade, to be perfectly honest with you," said freshman, Eddie Ledford. "So I'm really glad to be here, yeah."

Ledford is one of more than 4,000 students moving into the university's dorms; nearly doubling the amount of students living in the dorms before the fall of 2005.

"My sister went here so I've been waiting for a while to get here," said freshman, Allison Taylor.

Some students, like Taylor, said they're living in the dorms to get the "true college experience" by participating in school activities.

"I feel like I can just meet new people this way, just get more involved in the campus setting and everything," Taylor explained. "If you're off campus it's kind of harder to do that kind of stuff."

UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said students living on campus tend to get more involved, which in turn helps them succeed at higher rates.

"They retain more, they graduate faster and so we know that we've really created a very special environment that's really all about the students," said DePaolo.

Once students unloaded their boxes and bags, many planned on getting adjusted to a whole new environment.

"I'm just excited about moving in, and meeting new people, getting all my stuff organized and just kind of being on my own I guess," said freshman, Whitney Smith.

Forty percent of the UNCW student body lives on campus. In addition to dorms, students also have the option of living in campus apartments.