BOTHELL – The University of Washington’s Bothell campus looks ahead to big changes as it celebrates its 15th birthday this weekend.

It’s a time of growth and reflection for the campus near the King and Snohomish county line, a school that continues to creep north to solidify a status apart from its Seattle parentage.

This fall, UW-Bothell will welcome its first freshman class. Though it’s a small contingent, capped at 125 students, it’s a big shift for a commuter campus that doesn’t even have a cafeteria.

At the same time, the school continues to try to attract more of the Snohomish County students it was created to serve by overcoming the out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality and the dread of a commute on I-405.

The university is stepping beyond Bothell’s borders, staking out turf in Everett as state leaders debate how to bring four-year degrees to this under-served region.

UW-Bothell was built to serve an area that extends from Mercer Island to Marysville and Mukilteo to Monroe, said Steven Olswang, interim chancellor.

“For those 15 years, our commitment has been, ‘How do we serve students within those borders?’ ” he said.

More and more, the college has had to look for new ways to fully accomplish that mission.

Olswang jokes about “the Montlake campus,” referring to UW’s flagship Seattle location.

Still, more than 60 percent of UW-Bothell students live in King County, most of them from Seattle. Everett is the only Snohomish County city, besides portions of Bothell, that breaks the top five.

Less than 30 percent of UW-Bothell’s 1,500 students live in Snohomish County.

UW-Bothell has plans to grow to 6,000 students by 2020.

Olswang said it will take time to fulfill the university’s mission, though the momentum and talent are there.

“Fifteen years in the lifetime of a university is short,” he said. “I think it will take some time before people see UW-Bothell as a four-year institution.”

In the meantime, it’s turning to Everett as it guns for a bigger role. The city is the epicenter of state-funded plans to bring more baccalaureate degrees to the growing region.

If you go The University of Washington’s Bothell campus celebrates its 15th anniversary Saturday with an event-filled open house 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Activities include live music and theater, a 5K run and walk, food, birthday cake, an inflatable bounce room for kids and games and prizes. There also will be tours and visits with faculty, students and Husky athletes, cheerleaders and band members. Festivities will happen rain or shine. Parking will be free. For more information, visit www.uwb.edu.

Already, the Legislature has turned over control of a local consortium of state university classes to Everett Community College. UW-Bothell this year started offering two courses through the university center, serving 30 students.

Olswang has lobbied for what he has called a “twig” campus in Everett.

It’s a passion that doesn’t generate much buzz 16 miles to the south, though local lawmakers and business leaders are more keen.

UW-Bothell has potential to play a big role in the outcome of those talks, said state Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett, who sits on the Higher Education and Workforce Education committees.

“The studies that have been done show that they draw from 128th (Street SE) south, frankly. The access isn’t as good as we’d like,” he said. “The University of Washington will play a role. It will depend on them what the role is.”

Most discussion about a new four-year university in Snohomish County has centered on biotechnology and other sciences, subjects in which UW-Bothell lacks expertise.

Most of its undergraduate students enroll in interdisciplinary arts and sciences and business programs.

Olswang sees the freshman class as a way to start beefing up science offerings. A dozen new faculty members are coming on board to teach freshmen, including two biologists and an environmental scientist.

While it’s turning into a four-year university, it won’t reflect the traditional freshman experience.

“UW-Bothell is very different from any other school I’ve been to. It’s a commuter campus, so you don’t ever have people just hanging out,” said Daniel Molvik, 26, a Mill Creek graduate student who also attended the school for undergraduate work.

The campus’ North Creek Cafe never got a vendor, so food options are limited to a small coffee shop and Subway sandwich shop. Meanwhile, student and school leaders are scrambling on plans to expand extracurricular offerings that interest younger students, including intramural sports.

The university’s shared campus with Cascadia Community College also throws things for a loop, Molvik said.

“The buzz from the students’ perspective that I hear is, if you go in as a freshman at UW and the community college is right there, why would you do that … paying three times as much?”

In the end, it may be the commuter nature and UW status that appeal most to high school graduates who have little interest in moving on to dormitories and NCAA basketball games.

It’s proximity that drew Molvik to UW-Bothell over the main Seattle campus, and the same is true of the school’s first freshman, Xheni Diko of Monroe.

Diko, 17, said she looks forward to the small class sizes and is impressed by the school’s professors as well as the purple, pansy-filled “W” on the lawn.

“It’s here, and they have to live up to it,” she said.