By KELLEY GILLENWATER

Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Living on campus isn't just for freshmen anymore.

Colleges and universities across the country say an increasing number of sophomores and upperclassmen are living in dormitories or university-operated apartment complexes. It's been a growing trend for the past decade, said Kevin Kruger, associate executive director of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

Some schools even promote the back-to-campus move, saying the rewards include higher retention and graduation rates, better grades, increased involvement in campus activities, and more character-building interaction and mentoring among students. A campus police presence and an uncertain economy are other reasons students are staying on campus.

For Carl Mills, a 21-year-old senior pre-med major at Marshall University, living on campus is simply more convenient.

"You can meet new people and you're just closer to everything, all your classes and everything."

It also means he doesn't have to worry about utility bills or grocery shopping, he said.

"Students who say 'I can live off campus cheaper' often look at the rent but forget or underestimate what the utilities will be," said Ruth Gerstner, spokeswoman for student life at the Ohio State University. "When you get that $400 bill for heating an apartment in an old leaky Victorian, it can come as quite a shock."

In Mills' case, a housing and meal plan at Marshall's Huntington, W.Va., campus costs about $6,500 for the nine-month school year. Rent at many apartments near the Huntington campus can be found as low as about $400 per month, which for the school year would total about $3,600. But rent rarely includes utilities and never the price of food.

While many universities mandate that only freshmen live on campus, Ohio's Miami University will be requiring both freshmen and sophomores to live in university housing starting in the 2009-10 school year.

Colleges tend to lose students between their freshman and sophomore years or at least see declining grades because of the distractions that come with living off campus, said Miami spokeswoman Carole Johnson.

"What we're trying to do is keep the adrenaline and the excitement created in the freshman year with on-campus activities moving into their sophomore year, keep them more engaged," she said.

About 3,750 of Miami's 7,200 campus residents -- 52 percent -- are non-freshmen this year, including about two-thirds of the school's sophomores, said Andrew Beckett, associate dean of students, so only about 400 to 500 sophomores will be affected by next year's change.

One concern, though, is that many juniors and seniors who would otherwise choose to remain on campus would be displaced, Beckett said.

Ohio State, where all but about 2,500 of the 9,000 on-campus residents are freshmen, has a long-term goal of requiring sophomores to live on campus as well, Gerstner said. But the school currently doesn't' have the dorm space.

Of Virginia Tech's 9,125 on-campus students, 44 percent are non-freshmen, said Rick Johnson, director of housing and dining services. While the number of upperclassmen living on campus has always been high, Johnson says he can see why it's becoming more popular nationwide.

One main reason, he said, is the nicer housing options schools are offering these days.

The traditional two-person college dorm room with a public bathroom down the hall is quickly giving way to luxury suites with flat-screen TVs, wireless Internet, kitchenettes and private bathrooms.

"I think this generation of students and their parents have a much different perception of what student housing should be like compared to when I went to school in the '70s," said Michael Coakley, associate vice president and executive director of university housing for Arizona State University.

About 30 percent of the school's 11,000 dorm dwellers are non-freshmen.

"Most are coming from homes where they have their own bedroom and their own bathroom, or they may share a bathroom with just one other sibling, and they expect to continue that lifestyle," said Coakley, who is a member of the 21st Century Project, an Association of College and University Housing Officers International initiative to promote the design and construction of state-of-the-art dorms.

Many upperclassmen are being attracted by specialty dorms, such as the honors hall that recently opened at West Liberty State College in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. It consists 14 apartment-style units, each with three bedrooms, a fully furnished kitchen and bathroom.

"The more you can offer unique housing arrangements and make them beyond the traditional dorm, the more upperclassmen are going to be attracted," said West Liberty president Robin Capehart.