MISSOULA - The state Board of Regents has given the University of Montana permission to buy a $640,000 house.

The board voted 4-3 last week to allow the university to buy the 14-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home northwest of the Missoula campus. Over the last 25 years, UM has bought 30 of the 34 homes in the area.

The school borrows money from the state Board of Investments for the purchases and then uses rent from faculty and students to pay off the mortgages.

UM President George Dennison said the university did not plan to bulldoze the home, but hopes to use it to house international students and faculty.