Binghamton University has seen an increase in applicants for the fall 2009 semester, potentially putting pressure on admissions, housing and financial aid.

“Undergraduate applications are still coming in, but in general the number of applications to date have exceeded last year’s number of 25,940,” Director of Undergraduate Recruitment Brian Hazlett said.

According to the BU undergraduate admissions Web site, 26,592 applications were reviewed for the fall 2008 semester, a jump from the 25,243 applications received for fall 2007. Out of the fall 2008 applicants, only 2,400 freshmen were enrolled for the beginning of the year. In fall 2007 2,218 freshmen were enrolled.

Although this increase of applicants allows the University to be more selective of which applications are accepted, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions does not base its decisions solely on SAT scores and grades.

“As we begin to review freshmen and transfer applications, we continue to use our holistic approach to evaluate and accept a broad range of students from inside and outside New York state,” Hazlett said. “It depends upon their interests, talents, etc. It’s simply not about SATs and grades.”

With the increase of students deciding to attend BU each year, the overpopulation of the on-campus dorms is becoming an issue. For the 2008-09 school year, 282 freshmen began the fall 2008 semester in a forced-triple dorm room.

“Because we are a residential campus, our demand to live on campus is always strong,” Hazlett said. “We are still working on our projections for new students. We know current students will be signing up in the coming weeks for housing next year.”

BU is in the middle of building new dorms to replace both Dickinson Community and Newing College on East Campus.

“We are in the process of constructing a new residential building with 330 additional beds and expect a full occupancy of this building this fall,” Hazlett said.

According to Hazlett, though tuition has increased by $310 per semester, it cannot be determined yet how this increase will affect students applying for financial aid.

“Applicants are just starting to work on filing their FAFSA, and the process is still moving forward at this time,” he said. ”Economic times are driving students and their families to look closely at costs and their financing options.”

“May 1 is the deadline to enroll, so we still have time,” he added.