PITTSBURGH -- The number of students who have accepted admission offers to Penn State and sent in deposits -- "paid accepts" -- is up 23 percent, Penn State President Graham Spanier said at Friday's Board of Trustees meeting.

Spanier said the increase was primarily due to the increase in the number of admission offers that the university has made for the next academic year.

Assuming students do not forfeit their deposits to attend other schools, the increase in paid accepts should result in increased enrollment, said Robert Pangborn, vice president and dean for undergraduate education.

John Romano, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses, said Penn State expects to enroll a freshman class this fall of at least 6,900 students at University Park, an increase of about 300 students over this year's class.

Romano said the enlarged freshman class was necessary to maintain a target enrollment at University Park of between 40,000 and 42,000 students. He said enrollment has dropped to nearly 40,000 in recent years because of an increase in the four-year graduation rate.

Romano said decreased credit requirements for degrees and rising tuition had increased incentives for students to graduate in four years. He said he expects the graduation rate to level off at a higher level.

Pangborn said providing housing for incoming freshmen should not be a problem because the university had expected the increase, but it could make housing more crowded.

"If we have more students coming to University Park, it's going to put more pressure on housing," he said.

As of mid-February, more than 1,200 current students had not received housing contracts for next year.

Spanier said the total number of undergraduate and graduate applications to all campuses had increased 12.3 percent to 80,500 over the same time last year.

He said Penn State Dickinson School of Law applications are up 32 percent as well.

Spanier said a variety of factors were responsible for the increase in applications.

"It probably didn't hurt that we ranked third in the nation in football," he said.

However, Spanier said the increase was evident even during the early part of the football season. He said many high school students were applying to more colleges.

The meeting also featured a panel discussion led by Vicky Triponey, vice president for student affairs. Toby Jenkins, director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center; Brandon Rosati, a Beaver Hall resident assistant; and Council of Commonwealth Student Governments President Kathleen Streaker discussed their involvement in co-curricular activities.

Triponey said co-curricular participation could be defined broadly.

"They're not just doing work for me in my office -- they're learning life skills," she said.

Daniel Larson, dean of the Eberly College of Science, gave a presentation on his college.

He said the college was working on ways to retain quality students. He said about 50 percent of students who enter the college as a freshmen transfer out.

Trustees Chairwoman Cynthia Baldwin said ballots for the 2006 trustees election by alumni will be mailed on April 10 and must be returned by May 11.