STERLING ? A liberal arts college in this central Kansas town plans to build two new residence halls in an effort to attract more students.

Bruce Douglas, president of Sterling College, said last week that the two-story, 48-bed dorms are expected to be ready in time for the start of the next school year. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Jan. 27.

“We need more students, and we have to have a place to put them,” Douglas said.

The college, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, has about 515 students, and Douglas wants to see that grow to at least 550 students. The existing residence halls house about 400.

Melanie Lightner, director of marketing at Sterling, said the dorms would be the first new student housing built since 1963.

Initially reserved for upperclassmen, the new halls will each have an outdoor deck and will feature laundry with kitchenettes on each floor.

“We’ve set some lofty recruitment goals for the fall,” said Mark Tremaine, vice president for student life. “And what we have for our students isn’t up to current standards.”

The college plans to lease land to Aduddell Development Group of Norman, Okla., which will build and manage the halls. The college will retain ownership of the buildings.

The addition of the new halls would allow a portion of one of the existing women’s dorms to be transformed into a proposed charter school, which would be operated as a partnership with the local school district. The school would feature multiage classrooms, small class sizes and a strong emphasis on character education.

Charter schools receive public money, but have fewer restrictions than other public schools, allowing them more freedom in what and how they teach.