While the University of Georgia will have about 500 more freshmen than anticipated this fall, President Michael Adams said Friday they all will have dorms to live in and classes to attend.
Adams said he was "surprised" by the higher than usual number of students who decided to enroll. About 5,500 freshmen will be on campus when classes begin Aug. 15.
He assumed the college would have a harder time filling its freshman class because of competition from private schools and economic concerns, such as increased tuition and fees and changes to the state's HOPE scholarship that decreased the aid students receive. So he directed the admissions office to admit several hundred more students than usual.
The higher yield left staff in housing and academics scrambling this summer. UGA hired more lecturers and added course sections in the core classes freshmen take. Housing converted some lounges to dorm rooms and assigned freshmen to live with the upperclassmen who serve as resident assistants.
"All in all it’s been a challenging summer but we intend to be ready," Adams said during his regular briefing with the news media.
The revamped living spaces caused an uproar among some students who have flocked to Facebook pages such as "UGA Class of 2015″ to vent their frustrations over extra beds being crammed into rooms designed for just one person.
Adams said the university did not admit more students for financial reasons. Some colleges boost enrollment and use the extra tuition money to offset drops in other revenue. He said UGA will be stricter with admissions for next fall's class to lessen the likelihood of this happening again.
He joked some students picked UGA because of its new "hipster" status. The Huffington Post picked UGA as one of its 10 "top hipster" colleges.
"I’m sure it’s because the president is so hip," Adams said.
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