DICKINSON (AP) - Campus housing is expected to be at capacity this fall at Dickinson State University, school officials say.

"If anything, it's going to be very tight. So to mitigate that, we've already contacted a couple of the motels to have as backup space at the start of the semester just in case," said Hal Haynes, the school's vice president for student development.

Dickinson State's three residence halls and six apartment buildings can hold 637 students. Haynes said all but two of those spots were filled this past spring and fall.

Stuart Savelkoul, DSU's housing coordinator, said the increased demand for university housing is due to more international students attending the school. About half of those living in the dorms are international students, he said.

"The international students are the whole reason," he said. "We have far fewer domestic students living on campus than we did five years ago, but we have a much greater amount of international students."

Dickinson State now requires freshmen and sophomores to live in university housing if their home is more than 25 miles from campus. Administrators said they may relax that rule and allow sophomores to live off campus.