It’s a no-brainer as to why being a student at the University is in hot demand. Illinois administrators pride themselves on being consistently ranked as one of the top ten public universities in the nation. We’re especially well-known for the excellent quality of our engineering and science programs, for having the largest undergraduate library in the United States (outside of the Ivy League), and for fielding 19 varsity sports teams. No wonder why when we go home over break and wear our Illinois hoodies, we’re constantly bombarded about how we “got in” – as if it’s a big secret.

In addition to these highlights, the University has recently increased recruitment efforts. And with the number of high school graduates at an all-time high, it’s not astonishing that the number of applicants to the University has risen each year.

But according to the Chicago Sun-Times, more than 25,000 students applied for the fall semester, a number far exceeding what the University is used to handling.

It’s great to see that so many students want to get their college education at the University, especially during the recession, but even if a small percentage of those who applied actually get accepted and decide to come here, it will most likely set a record for how many students the University will have ever admitted. And while we would like to welcome as many students as we can to this campus, it’s important that the administration doesn’t over-admit students, even if they tuition dollars bring in much-needed revenue.

The University of Illinois is at such a high level of esteem because of its competitive programs and acceptance rates. By no means, should we lower the bar of quality of students who get accepted or increase the numbers of students admitted simply for economic reasons. We’ve already seen our campus grow exponentially in recent years. But is now the right time to continue that indefinite growth? While our University is on track to smaller faculty sizes and cutting programs, we can’t necessarily admit more students and expect the quality of our education to stay the same.

Our programs wouldn’t be what they are today if our labs and discussion sections had more than 15 or 20 students per section. And we expect that if the number of students admitted increases dramatically, the size of discussion sections will follow suit. Maybe we’ve taken for granted the one-on-one time we’ve been able to spend with teaching assistants and the relationships we’ve built with our fellow students in small labs. But if the University were to admit an excessive number of students, the time available to do so and the quality of our education will slowly but surely change.

In this situation, supply should not necessarily follow demand.