MONROE — Students packed the hallway last week on the third floor of the Lake Tye Building, waiting for classes to start.

And it’ll soon be more crowded.

The Everett Community College East County Campus is seeing a steady increase in the number of students who are taking college-level classes at the building at 14090 Fryelands Blvd. SE.

More than 254 students have registered for classes for winter quarter, up from 176 in the fall. And more will likely sign up.

“It’s the biggest number we have ever had,” director Rob Prosch said. “It shows there is a need in east county for post-secondary education services.”

Opened in 1999, the EvCC East County Campus has provided classes for high school students who want to begin college work early and college students who want to learn close to home and avoid traveling U.S. 2 to Everett. The campus, which has been housed in the Lake Tye building since 2010, is officially considered a satellite of EvCC.

There is some push to make it a branch campus. That means the campus would need to provide students services such as a library, a counselor and a financial aid officer.

But the campus lacks of space and resources, said Sandra Fowler-Hill, executive vice president of instruction and student services.

“We are quickly growing out of the space we have available,” she said. “We have a commitment to serve students in east county. We are developing a plan to expand our program there into a branch campus.”

Currently, there are three classrooms and two small offices in the building, where the campus has been housed since 2010. The school also has an agreement with Monroe School District to use the lab at the high school.

There are plans to rent an additional room on the second floor for meetings and offices for the faculty. There are also plans to find more space for classrooms in the next three to five years, Prosch said.

Students would like to see expanded course offerings and services.

“It’s more hassle free. It’s really nice here. The building is brand new and you can look at Lake Tye,” said Danika Hollefreund, 16.

She is a high school junior at the Sky Valley Education Center and she is taking college-level courses in Monroe and in Everett four days a week as part of the Running Start program.

Kym Kenagy, 17, is also a student of Running Start, but she attends Sultan High School. She likes taking classes in Monroe.

“It gives me a better understanding of what a real college education is,” she said.

Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@ heraldnet.com.