The recent announcement that Penn State's enrollment for the 2001-2002 academic school year is the highest to date does not bode well for students at University Park, freshmen and upperclassmen alike.

Penn State continues to accept more and more freshmen, with more students choosing to attend Penn State. But as this number increases, the amount of on-campus housing has remained the same. The planned additions to on-campus housing on West Campus will only house graduate students and their families.

One of the more public ways the university prepared for this problem was the new housing lottery system introduced last year. But many upperclassmen were denied on-campus housing, forcing them to look for alternative off-campus housing late in the Spring Semester. For some, the search continued during the summer.

Not only that, but the increase in students means an increased need for staffing for freshmen-orientated classes. There are over 125 sections of the 24-student English 15 class, a class that many colleges recommend freshmen take in their first year.

Freshmen will also feel the implications of being one of 6,300 new students. As hard as it is for freshmen to register for classes that are geared towards them, they will find it harder and harder to get into their general education classes. As of yesterday, only two of the English 15 sections were not full.

The increase in enrollment does have some highlights. This fall's freshmen class will have the largest class of minority students ever, a hopeful indication that as the minority population increases so will acceptance of different ethnicities.

More students mean more opportunities, but also more problems. The university needs to be able to handle both.