Eastern saw a record increase in freshman enrollment during this Fall 2002, but the university is not alone in this phenomenon, as most state schools spread resources thinner to accommodate a growing number of students.

This semester, Eastern saw 632 new students, including 593 more freshmen. The increase, which was the largest in school history, came after a decrease of 106 students from the 2000 to 2001 school year.

Blair Lord, vice president of academic affairs, attributed some of the increase to improvements in Eastern’s recruiting tactics and more state high school graduates, but different factors may contribute to the state trend.

Melanie Magara, assistant vice president for public affairs, said the economy and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have sparked more overall interest in attending college.

After Sept. 11, more students wanted to stay closer to home, family and friends, and some opted to not attend out of state schools.

The slowing economy may also be affecting state school attendance.

“Traditionally when the economy is bad, students go to school rather than jumping into the job market,” said John Maguire, assistant vice president for university affairs at Western Illinois University.

Fewer jobs and less opportunity drive students to go to school rather than getting a job, and people already in the working world to go back to college, Magara said.

As Eastern tries to meet the needs of its new students by housing freshmen in residence hall lounges and adding sections, other universities face the same challenges in housing and academics.

In addition to Eastern, Northern Illinois University also saw the largest single year to year enrollment

jump in 25 years, Magara said. Overall enrollment has increased by five percent, with 1,166 new students attending. For the past five to six years, Northern has

seen consistent increases of 400 to 500 students, but this year’s number exceeded expectations.

“It is a dramatic increase and it has stretched the capacity of a lot our resources as far as housing and classes,” she said.

Northern has added class sections and class seats to accommodate students, and housed students in alternative housing units.

“All of this increased enrollment came after our state budget was cut,” she said. “We are working at doing more with less,” she said.

However, not every state school agrees that more students will necessarily equal a better school.

Illinois State University chose not follow the trend of increased enrollment, saying the load of extra students would drain resources especially with the state budget crisis.

“We have been stable and steady and that’s exactly where we want to be,” said Steve Adams, director of admissions at ISU.

ISU accepted 264 fewer incoming students this year to keep enrollment at 21,000 for the second year in a row. More students applied to attend the university, but the school was concerned about overcrowded housing and classes.

“Stability is what its all about,” he said. “It’s much easier to plan for stability than plan for spikes.”

While more students mean more tuition, it also means more students to provide for and Adams said with cuts, they did know if they could cut it.

“These are really, really bleak times as far as the budget is concerned,” Adams said. “This is not the time to be going up.”

While Western’s increase was not record setting, the school’s enrollment has been steadily increasing for the past seven years. This year, 230 more freshmen are starting at Western, bringing the total to 1,939. The rise is the largest in 10 years, Maguire said.

The increase has forced Western to house some incoming freshman in rooms previously used to accommodate guests during conferences. However, Maguire said as students leave throughout the semester, those students may be placed back into regular student housing.

However, though Southern Illinois University in Carbondale also has followed the trend, overcrowding will not have an immediate effect on incoming students, Anne DeLuca, assistant vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment, said in an email.

“Our new freshmen did not have any trouble with housing or class.” she said. “Next year, if we saw another large increase in freshmen, coupled with budgets cuts, it would be more of a challenge to ensure classes for them. Right now, we don’t have any concerns.”

Southern experienced an overall increase of 275 students, it largest increase since 1997, despite decreasing enrollment over the last few years, she said.