It鈥檚 that time of year; students are coming back to Colorado State University in Fort Collins and the University of Colorado in Boulder. They'll find something new on both campuses.

CU officials are expecting a freshmen class of around 5,700-5,800. says they鈥檙e expecting a slight decrease in freshmen enrollment from . CSU's school-wide total is 22,400 undergraduates.

Greeting incoming students are new and renovated residence halls on campus.

鈥檚 Kittredge Central, a $34.9 million residence hall, features an immersive Residential Academic Program for students. The 100,000 square foot building includes 264 beds, classrooms and a 250 person auditorium. The university is also unveiling Kittredge West, an existing dorm that recently underwent a $21.7 million renovation.

Over in Fort Collins, CSU is expecting nearly 5,400 students to move into its residence halls Thursday, several of which have undergone recent renovations as well.

There鈥檚 new lobbies, elevators, student lounges and kitchens in the Braiden and Parelee residence halls as well as expanded space in Laurel Village. The Durrell Center will feature new study spaces, an outdoor deck and an improved dining center.

Credit courtesy Colorado State University

The Lory Student Center has also been completely refurbished.

The flurry of renovations on both campuses signals a growing trend for universities in the cut-throat world of wooing prospective students.

鈥淲e鈥檙e very future thinking here,鈥� says Robin Brown Vice President for Enrollment and Access at Colorado State University. 鈥淲e have a lot of new construction on campus. The Lory student union is getting a complete overhaul. We have new residence halls being build on the north end of campus, and our new biomedical engineering building opens up this fall. So there鈥檚 a lot of new construction going on, and it is a way to compete effectively for students in the marketplace.鈥�

Malinda Miller-Huey with CU agrees.

鈥淭his generation of students is used to nice facilities,鈥� says Miller-Huey. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing more demand for those facilities. We鈥檙e also seeing that students are taking more time to make their decisions, they鈥檙e applying to more universities. So I think our strong academics are a draw and our environment is a draw, but also the facilities are important to this generation.鈥�

Both CU鈥檚 Miller-Huey and CSU鈥檚 Brown say that as more out-of-state universities setup permanent recruitment offices in Colorado, both have had to expand and improve academic and physical offerings to continue to attract high caliber in-state students.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a ,鈥� says Miller-Huey. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 always been out there, but I think that the profile of Colorado in general has raised, and we鈥檙e a fairly educated state and people definitely want our students to go out-of-state to their universities.鈥�

Brown says five years ago around eight out-of-state universities had set up permanent recruitment shops in Colorado. Today that number is closer to 23.

鈥淲e are going to be one of the few states that over the next few years there will actually be an increase in high school grads,鈥� Brown continues, 鈥渁nd so as other enrollment offices at other universities are looking at where they can go to make sure they can meet their enrollment goals, Colorado is one of the top ones on their lists.鈥�