Hawaii Pacific University will welcome a record number of new students in the fall despite a national trend of declining college enrollment amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of new freshmen entering the university is expected to climb from about 500 to more than 800 when classes start Aug. 23, prompting an emergency expansion of dorm space that will see students taking up six floors of the Park Shore Waikiki hotel with a shuttle operating to campus.

“While reports from the rest of the country are down or flat, we are looking at a great number of students, particularly freshmen students, joining us,” said John Gotanda, HPU president.

Gotanda spoke to the media at HPU’s Aloha Tower Marketplace on Wednesday during an event designed to show off a few new features of the university, including a doctor of physical therapy program — the first one in the state — and a new student union in the former Gordon Biersch restaurant.

The private, nonprofit university will start the new year with a growing downtown Honolulu campus situated in three nearby locations — Aloha Tower Marketplace, Waterfront Plaza at restaurant row and Pioneer Plaza on the Fort Street Mall.

More than 4,000 students are expected to be enrolled in classes at HPU this fall.

A combination of upgraded marketing and Hawaii’s relatively safe pandemic environment helped drive the enrollment surge, Gotanda said in an interview.

“The measures that we all took to keep our community safe actually allowed us, in the end, to operate in person and provide a really safe environment ultimately for our students,” he said.

Gotanda said he suspects enrollment got a boost from those who simply wanted to experience something new following months of isolating from the pandemic, similar to the rush to vacation in Hawaii after restrictions were relaxed.

Gotanda said HPU had good success warding off COVID-19 last year through a robust set of protocols, including the enforcement of mask wearing, social distancing and increased sanitizing, plus a rigorous surveillance testing program and a large contact tracing team.

“We haven’t had a case involving a residential student on campus since January,” he said. “And we haven’t had a transmission all year from a classroom even though we were in person.”

Over the summer, HPU hired an outside expert to study classroom ventilation and, as a result, purchased three dozen medical grade air filtration systems that contain HEPA filters and germicidal UVC lighting that destroys the virus. The systems will be installed next week.

Gotanda said more than 90% of faculty, staff and students reported in surveys that they will be vaccinated by the start of class.

Nevertheless, a vaccine will be required of all faculty and front-facing staff members, he said, along with students in select classes that require close contact, including labs, athletics and music.

When the vaccines are formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration — expected in a few weeks — the university will roll out even further requirements, he said.

Applications are now being accepted for the new new doctor of physical therapy program, which will launch in July 2022.

“We already have a pre-­applicant list of over 750 for about 100 spots,” said HPU Provost Jennifer Walsh. “We think it’s going to be a great resource for the state of Hawaii, because up until now, students who wanted a DPT education had to go to the continental U.S. for that experience.”

The new student union, called Sharky’s Cove, is right on the waterfront and will feature a soda bar, foosball, ping pong, pool table and a digital jukebox.

University officials are planning to bring in musical acts for concerts throughout the year.

“Most student unions tend to be static spaces that students utilize to hang out,” said Brook Carroll, vice president of advancement. “They don’t tend to have what we’re planning, which is 25 to 30 musical performances, local comedians and shows like that.”