By Hannah Gray
As the incoming freshmen pour into campus, the UP administration announces them as the largest freshman class in UP history. While for some returning students, this might trigger concerns over class sizes, housing, scholarships and financial aid, those worries appear to be unfounded.According to Dean of Admissions Jason McDonald, there are approximately 820 students in this year's freshman class, 26 more students than last year. The year before was a record-breaker, with 805 incoming freshman. Despite the influx of new freshman, there's plenty of living space to go around. According to Mike Walsh, director of Residence Life, the addition of Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls allows for breathing room. Without the new halls, "We would be in trouble," Walsh said. "It would be horrendous."Last year, before the new halls were completed, some freshmen had "extended doubles," or more roughly put, "forced triples," according to Walsh. "Extended doubles" were not needed this year. In fact, only 94 percent of freshmen are living on campus, which is lower than Residence Life anticipated, according to Walsh. The projected number was around 95 percent, possibly a little higher. Those projections were based partly on a new freshman live-in requirement implemented this year .The arrival of UP's largest ever freshman class also appears to have a negligible effect on class sizes."I feel like my classes are smaller than my high school classes," Kacia Hicks said. "The specialized classes, like French, are way small." Even with 140 students in her Nursing 101 class, freshman Megan Lafontaine doesn't feel neglected. If anyone has a question, it doesn't take long to get it answered with three professors there to help with the lecture, according to Lafontaine. Students whose family budgets have tightened may fear the financial impact of a larger freshman class, potentially competing for dollars with returning students. Indeed, UP has seen a significant increase in requests for aid. Since 2006, the amount of FAFSA's has increased by 2,343. For this academic year, financial aid received 9,143 FAFSA's, and they packaged roughly 5,300. Of the 9,143 FAFSA's, 3,700 were freshmen alone. However, UP Financial Aid Director Janet Turner says she does not see reason for concern because UP is not the only source of financial aid funding. Federal, state, endowments, ROTC and other sources pitch in. "The burden does not just fall all on the institution," Turner said. In addition, financial aid is given out case-by-case. According to Turner, no certain amount is allotted to each academic class. Instead, UP distributes aid based on students' circumstances, regardless of class. However, Turner said returning students would get priority if it came down to the choice of awarding aid to a incoming student or a returning upperclassman. Academic scholarships are given to students when they are accepted to UP. Two-thirds of the freshmen class has some sort of academic scholarship, according to McDonald. "We kept academic scholarships intact," McDonald said. "We didn't offer more or less," from previous years. Because annual and endowed scholarships generally are not given to freshmen, upperclassmen can rest assured the large freshman class does not affect that financial source, Turner said.
