After years of working around state budget cuts, the University faces new challenges with a 4-5 percent increase in freshman enrollment. The incoming freshman class will have between 7,500 and 7,600 students.

“It’s a strong statement about the quality of education that this many students chose us,” said Robin Kaler, interim associate chancellor for public affairs, “but the increased numbers will pose challenges for us.”

Universities accept approximately twice as many students as they expect to enroll. The normal yield, or percentage of students admitted who accept, is 50.1 percent; this year’s yield increased to 57.4 percent.

“We think that it’s due to lots of things,” Kaler said. “Students realize the value of coming here – the choice of majors, wide academic offerings, and it probably didn’t hurt that the basketball team did well.”

The University is working to accommodate the increase in students, which also increased the student to faculty ratio.

“They’re not going to get as good of an education because they’re not going to get as much one on one time with TA’s and professors,” said Sarah Odeh, 2005 graduate in LAS.

To work around the higher numbers, administration added seats to classes and sections to courses. They offer many time slots for general education requirements, so the large freshman class may force students to enroll in early classes, even if 8 a.m. is less preferable.

The University residence halls have been preparing for the extra students as well. Many rooms that served as large doubles must be switched back to triples. Floor lounges and other residence hall spaces are being converted into dorm rooms. Since campus administration thinks it is most important for freshman to live in the dorms, the University is allowing current students and transfer students to break their residence hall contracts.

Apart from class sizes and housing, which will primarily affect the incoming freshman, students recognize effects that a larger freshman class will have on campus life.

“There’s going to be a lot of confused freshman running around,” said Erin Broderick, senior in LAS, “and younger bars will be even more packed.”

Though some view the busyness as a downside, others consider the positive aspects of more students on campus.

“I think it’d be good for Campustown – for businesses, for on-campus apartments; it’s good for that sort of thing,” said Andrew Murray, graduate student.

Though it’s currently looking at a high number of incoming students, administration faced an opposite problem last fall when the number of applicants was down. The University has looked into possible reasons for the decrease. One factor may be tuition prices, which continue to increase. Also, other universities see Chicago as a prime recruiting market, and therefore the University of Illinois competes with these schools for the best Illinois students. Fewer students could have chosen Illinois because the application process became more difficult last fall. The application now requires a longer essay and an additional essay. This new application may have discouraged some students from applying, ensuring that only the more serious students apply.

The administration saw the decrease in applicants as a smaller, but more committed pool of students. They began yield enhancement activities to ensure that enrollment would not go down with applications. The University used blogs and phone calls from alums and students to stay connected with prospective students.

Apart from the University’s efforts, the basketball team’s success could have influenced some students. Having a team win the Big Ten Championship and play in the Final Four championship game gave the University a lot of attention.

“I think people are more aware that Illinois exists,” said Bryce Lobell, a graduate student in engineering.

At the same time, the basketball team would not be used to base a college decision.

“That’s not the kind of students we attract,” Kaler said. “But if it came down to two schools, and everything else equal, it is a fun thing to be a part of.”

Regardless of the reasons, the result is a freshman class larger than intended, which adds to previous challenges with student-faculty ratios from state budget cuts. Every year budget cuts impact the university, but administration does all it can to protect academics.

“We make sure to stretch every source we have and as wise and useful as possible,” Kaler said.

The campus administration does not foresee the increased enrollment to create problems related to budget cuts. Since an increase in students also means a higher budget from tuition, the larger freshman class should leave problems related to budget cuts relatively stable.

“It’s 5 percent, I don’t think it will make much of a difference,” Lobell said. “But class sizes will obviously be bigger.”