Incoming freshman applying to attend Eastern may be running out of time as increases in application numbers have sparked interim President Lou Hencken to impose an admissions application deadline.

An April 30 deadline for all incoming freshmen applications has been set, but Dale Wolf, the director of admissions, said the deadline would not affect transfer students or any students with partial applications already submitted.

Enrollment applications are up by 20 to 30 percent from last year, causing Hencken to instate the application deadline. No deadline has been established in past years because application numbers have been too low, but Hencken said he wants to ensure there will be enough resources, classes and housing for everyone.

“We want to make sure we have enough room and classes for all the people we admit,” Hencken said.

A deadline for transfer students has not been imposed yet because they have different class and housing needs than incoming freshmen, Wolf said.

“It depends on how the flow (of transfer students) goes,” he said.

Hencken attributed the rise in enrollment to three extra admission counselors hired to visit high schools and community colleges more often to recruit possible new students.

The university has received 7,376 freshman applications and 1,255 transfer applications, Hencken said, bringing a total of 8,631 prospective students. Last year 7,101 new students actually enrolled during fall semester.

Wolf said of the applications received so far, 70 percent of incoming freshmen have met the standards for acceptance and over 66 percent of transfers have been accepted.

However, Wolf said the actual number of students that will register for fall is difficult to predict.

“We won’t know the actual numbers until school actually starts,” he said.

Despite the increased number of applications, Hencken said the university cannot change admissions criteria.