Brand-new pillows still in their packaging, bulky room fans and other poundage piled into overburdened moving carts explained the frazzled looks on some entering dorms at the University of Pittsburgh on Monday.

Then there was Devin Knause, 17, a first-year student from Tenafly, N.J., who arrived outside Litchfield Tower A with just three hockey sticks, a refrigerator and a hockey bag.

Is that all?

“Pretty much,” said his mother Rita.

“They have this Ship2Pitt, so we pretty much sent everything,” she said. “It was great.”

The start of fall classes next week at Pitt and at other colleges across the region has meant a return of bustle on streets surrounding campuses.

At Pitt, the region’s largest university, more than 8,000 students are moving into university housing in phases this week, aided by 300 staff and student volunteers, officials said. They will welcome them to one of 27 residence halls and apartment-style buildings.

Similar scenes are expected as Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, Point Park University, Chatham University and Carlow University prepare for next Monday’s fall term.

Duquesne expects approximately 1,500 first-year students, as well as 200 transfers, culled from 13,300 applicants, spokeswoman Rose Ravasio said.

They are from 29 states, 33 countries and one U.S. territory.

At Pitt, a line-up of Welcome Week events are planned to better familiarize students with the sprawling campus and to help them meet their peers.

Classes also begin Monday at Pitt-Greensburg, Pitt-Johnstown and Pitt-Bradford.

Stopping for a few moments on Fifth Avenue, Anastasia Pendos, 18, and Krystal Sarita, 17, childhood friends from Reading, were enthusiastic if a little tired from the move.

“We’ve known each other since elementary school. Now we’re roommates,” Pendos said.

They actually arrived a day earlier. “But we still have so much to do,” Sarita said.

This is the fourth year Ship2Pitt has been in use, said Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer.

Last year, more than 13,000 boxes were delivered through the initiative.

“Students residing in University residence halls can get a head start on moving through Ship2Pitt, mailing up to five boxes for delivery free of charge to their campus residence ahead of arrival,“ Stonesifer explained. “This partnership with UPS is a complimentary service to alleviate the congestion of moving in during Pitt Arrival and to elevate the student move-in experience.”

Bill Schackner is a TribLive reporter covering higher education. Raised in New England, he joined the Trib in 2022 after 29 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. Previously, he has written for newspapers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He can be reached at bschackner@triblive.com.