They’re called the C17 kids – the 20 University of Washington Tacoma students pioneering the branch campus’ first residency program.

C17 stands for Court 17, the five-story, market-rate apartment building where the UWT has carved out eight units of on-campus living. The small enclave is another milestone for the 20-year-old urban branch campus.

Sitting around the large living room of one of the units, several of the mostly freshman group of students said dorm life expands their college experience.

They’ve been together less than eight weeks, but they already end up going places together. They study together, watch movies together. For Halloween, a handful of them carved pumpkins together.

“We’ve already bonded,” said Megan Thomas, 18, a freshman from Vancouver, Wash.

Cedric Howard likes to hear that. He was brought to UWT in 2007 from a similar branch campus of the University of South Florida. His job there was to develop campus life programs and student housing.

When the UWT decided to expand into a four-year university, Howard said, the school recognized that a campus life was necessary, too. A student affairs office was expanded. More on-campus common areas were developed.

Howard said campus life at UWT is a work in progress. With a residence culture comes a need for other facets of a campus community: recreation, health care, places to eat and hang out, entertainment.

UWT is in the planning stages for an on-campus health care program that could begin next year, he said. A fitness center opened on campus in 2007. The William Phillips Assembly Hall with a 500-seat performance hall and study area opened this year.

In early development is a student dining card program for campus and local restaurants.

Meanwhile, the residence program is expected to expand in size next year at Court 17 to at least 45 students. The school is also working on turning lofts next to The Harmon building into residences for mainly students over 25 for a combined 85-bed residence program. That’s still a small sliver of the college’s total enrollment of 3,000 or so, but the program is expected to grow.

By 2012, the goal is to open a 250- to 350-bed residence complex on campus.

“We have students who are now freshmen,” Howard said. “They want to socialize. They want a living-type experience. They want a comprehensive campus experience.”

So far, the UWT transformation is working for Thomas.

Thomas said her choices were between Pacific Lutheran University and UWT.

“This new housing got me to come here,” she said.

“When I decided to come here, I already knew I didn’t want to commute,” said student Brooke Brouillet, 18. She lived only seven miles away in Puyallup, but she wanted more than a “PCP” life – from parking lot to class to parking lot. Downtown apartments are available but not cheap, she said.

When she and her parents first heard about the resident apartments last April, she said they saw it as a perfect fit. Court 17 has all the amenities of dorm life on any campus – and more.

The 128-unit apartment building has its own community room on the first floor that students can and do use. There is a flat-screen TV and comfortable sofas and chairs. A gas fireplace adds non dorm ambiance. The room opens up to a huge outdoor patio with a commanding view of the Thea Foss Waterway. On a clear day, Mount Rainier looms to the south.

Brouillet said the community room isn’t used that much by residents. “It’s a great place to study,” she said.

The night before, the group attended a UWT-sponsored health and wellness program in the community room.

Next door to the room is the Court 17 fitness center, which also has plenty of room and is available to students, she said.

The one- and two-bedroom apartments are clustered on a third-floor wing. Each has its own furniture, kitchen and laundry facilities. There is parking. Wireless Internet and cable TV are part of the package.

Best of all, the students say, each unit has its own bathroom and shower facilities.

“I love the fact that I can cook my own meals,” said Thomas, “and there is no community bathroom.”

And the price is right, the students said. Four students in a two-bedroom unit each pay $570 per month or about $6,800 a year. Two students in a one-bedroom pay $780 per month or $9,300 a year.

“We do ask the students to commit to an entire year” – meaning four quarters – Howard said.

Howard said the cost is about comparable to what the UW offers on its main Seattle campus.

There are rules, too, like in any dorm: no pets, and quiet time between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Other Court 17 residents have no such rules.

Since the students are living in a real-world apartment building, not a dorm, parties and loud music are kept to a minimum. A UWT staff adviser lives in a ninth unit and is available to help students.

Word about Court 17 is out on campus, residents said. Friends who come over “love it,” said Brouillet who works in the UWT Student Activities Office.

“They wish they had done it.”

Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692