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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 19, 1992                   TAG: 9202190091
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

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VA. TECH GETS RECORD NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS

Despite - or perhaps because of - a weak economy, Virginia Tech has received its largest number of applications this year.

By Tuesday, Tech's admissions office had received 16,865 freshmen applications - up more than 800 from last year at this time.

"By all rights, we should have received fewer," said David Bousquet, director of admissions. "There are fewer high school seniors out there now."

But the economy being what it is, more Virginia students are looking to stay at home rather than pay out-of-state costs.

"I think they're concerned about their parents' jobs," Bousquet said. Also, a higher percentage of high school graduates is choosing to attend college.

Bousquet said successful recruiting trips to Richmond, Northern Virginia and Tidewater also could account for more interest among state students this year.

Tech will enroll 3,900 freshmen this autumn - a decrease over the past fall, when 4,357 freshmen were enrolled. "Our target had been 4,200," Bousquet said. "We missed by about 4 percent."

Each year, Tech accepts a certain number of students, expecting many to decline. (This year, for example, about 9,000 students will be accepted, with a targeted enrollment of less than half of that.)

But last year more students decided to take Tech up on its offer. Because Tech also has been retaining more students - a good sign, Bousquet said - more students attended the university in 1991 than officials expected.

This academic year, Tech had 23,912 students; the target had been 23,171. For fall of 1992, "we're trying to stabilize our enrollment," Bousquet said. "I think we have some extremely talented students in this pool. Most are very prepared for college."

Applications had to be postmarked by Feb. 15. Some are still trickling in.

At Radford University, where freshman applications aren't due until April 1, the count is a little below what it was last year. But administrators are in Richmond, Tidewater and Northern Virginia this week on the university's major recruiting event.

"We usually get a lot of applications pouring in right after that," said Penny Helms White, associate director of admissions.

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