The first freshmen class of Dominican University moved onto campus in Orangeburg Friday.

The Class of 2026 moved into Hertel Hall. Earlier this year, Dominican upgraded its status to university, making it the first university in Rockland County.

Dominican has about 2,000 students from 12 states and six countries.

Now that it's a university, school administrators expect all of those numbers to go up.

Dominican was granted university status by the New York State Board of Regents based on the fact that Dominican offers graduate programs in at least three of the following discipline areas: agriculture, biological sciences, business, education, engineering, fine arts, health professions, humanities, physical sciences, and social sciences.

School leaders say that formal recognition is going to land Dominican on the radars of prospective students all over the world.

They want to appeal to international students and build up sports.

"It's a strategic move on the university's part. I think for the college -- now university -- we're stepping into big shoes and now we're in the big leagues," said Jonathan Delgado, Assistant Dean of Student Development.