Applicants for NIU’s fall 2004 semester may face a tougher challenge than getting accepted – finding a place to live.

More than 3,000 freshmen and 2,000 transfer students are expected to step foot on campus next fall, Director of Admissions Robert Burk said.

Despite a growing number of applicants, the number of admitted students is down from last year, Burk said.

Burk said the provost aims to stabilize undergraduate enrollment at about 18,000 students.

Because of the increase in applications, a waiting list for admissions was started in January to keep the incoming freshmen class size in line, Burk said.

“The challenge we have to face as a university is to match the size of our freshmen and transfer class with the financial and personnel resources and facilities of NIU, including housing,” Burk said.

Typically, more than 90 percent of freshmen live in residence halls, he said.

Under university rules, freshmen under 21 with fewer than 30 hours of credit must live in the residence halls unless they live with a parent or guardian. The rule applies as long as space is available.

A few years ago, sections of residence halls, such as Stevenson Towers, were closed because of a lack of students. Now residence halls are at their full capacity of about 6,100, said Mike Stang, manager of residential administration.

Unable to accommodate all students, the university has instituted a separate waiting list to determine spots for on-campus housing.

“Several years ago, we decided to hold the spaces for incoming freshmen since they’re required to live on campus,” Stang said.

Between 50 and 75 freshmen stayed at the Holmes Student Center this semester while waiting for open spots in the residence halls, RHA President Keith Kruchten said, with the number varying as applicants who commit to NIU head elsewhere each semester.

“[Sometimes] they’re there for a week or two; sometimes they’re there for a semester,” Kruchten said.

The increased population has had both drawbacks and benefits.

“You try and serve everybody, and invariably someone’s not going to like what you did,” Kruchten said. “One thing that makes it easier is there are more residents interested in becoming involved on campus; you have a wider selection of people that want to be involved; more people wanting to help out.”

A new housing priority plan put in place this year gives preference to second-year students over upperclassmen, Stang said, with the idea that younger students stand more to gain and learn from the social environment.

Another change will allow students to make earlier plans for the fall. Previously, housing applicants were told as late as March whether they had a guaranteed spot in the residence halls, Stang said.

This year students were notified of their housing situations by February, allowing non-freshmen to find off-campus housing ahead of time.