Penn State's Rose Bowl victory didn't produce a national champion, but it may have helped attract more college applicants.

Since January, the University has received 4,388 more applications than it had last year by the same time. One explanation for this increase is popularity generated by the Rose Bowl, said John Romano, vice provost for enrollment management and administration.

"A couple days after the Rose Bowl was played, the number of calls from out of state was substantial. A couple of hundred called for applications," Romano said.

There are several other reasons why the number of applications to the University has increased, he added. The University has tried to improve and strengthen enrollment by improving the application process and by telling students how much financial aid they will probably receive.

"In the past year and a half, we've engaged in many processes to improve enrollment," Romano said.

The number of applications the University received in the last four months has surpassed last year's totals from the same time period. In October and November, the University received 2,000 more applications than it did during the same months the previous year, Romano said.

Although there was an increase in applications in the months preceeding the Rose Bowl, Romano said he does not question its impact on the University's popularity. Even the University of Wisconsin, the 1993 Rose Bowl champion, saw an increase in the number of applicants after its victory.

"There was definite expectations that we'd have more applications," said Millard Storey, Wisconsin's director of undergraduate admissions.

Storey added that a Rose Bowl victory helps give a school more public exposure.

But unlike Penn State, Wisconsin's application numbers did not drastically increase. Wisconsin only received 101 more applications, according to totals from the end of January 1994 to the same time the previous year.

Storey said out-of-state applications increased by 18 percent increase, but in-state applications decreased by 6 percent. He attributed the drop in the number of in-state applications to a new application fee.

The University of Nebraska may also benefit from its bowl victory. Kris Bergmeyer, assistant director of admissions at the University of Nebraska, said its Orange Bowl victory will probably help increase the number of out-of-state applicants.

The number of applications had increased before the bowl game and she expects the rise to continue, Bergmeyer said.

"Obviously the National Championship has been a big help," she said.