Problems with space in the residence halls will continue as NIU prepares to welcome its largest freshman class yet.

David Dunlap, coordinator of marketing and public relations for Student Housing and Dining Services, said there are a couple hundred students on the waiting list so far.

SHDS hopes to have no more than 100 students in temporary housing this fall. Temporary housing includes placing students in lounges and at the Holmes Student Center Hotel.

At this point, SHDS has about 250 more applications than last year, Dunlap said.

Some changes were implemented this year to deal with the surge of student applicants. Before, students needed to have applications filed by Aug. 1. This year, the deadline was changed to May 1. Applications received after May were put on a waiting list.

This early cutoff date had to be implemented to deal with the significant increase in freshman applicants, Burk said.

SHDS hopes to have all students removed from temporary housing and placed into permanent housing within four weeks into the semester.