IF THE sidewalks and grass pathways seem a bit more crowded this year, it may not entirely be your imagination.

This year’s freshman class is the latest class in DU history to reach more than 1,000 as part of the university’s new admission process. DU has tried to find a balance between enrollment levels and the amount of space on campus.

Mike Griffin, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management, said that the current count for the number of freshmen stands at 1,028.

However, he cautions that students should not be concerned that the university will no longer be a close-knit community.

The administration has been working to help the new class feel welcome. Chancellor Daniel Ritchie and Margaret Whitt, director of the freshman English program, met with students during Discoveries, the week-long orientation, and DU President Marc Holtzman greeted students as they moved in.

The university is “First-year student enrollment is “being capped at 1,050 for the next several years” Griffin said.

He said that the university has capped enrollement to maintain the quality of education that the university offers.

The university chooses to have small classes so that students can receive personalized attention from the faculty, he said.

The issue of housing has been a concern for some students this year because it seems living conditions have been tighter this year than in the past with residences, like the apartments and Nelson Hall at or near capacity.

Gail Howard, director of residence life, said that the housing situation on campus is not as tight as some may believe though.

She said that the residence halls are “very full” but not as full as they have been in years past.

“We haven’t had to triple any rooms [like they have in the past] or convert lounge areas into bedrooms,” Howard said.

Chris George, assistant director of housing, said that there are currently 970 freshmen living in the freshman residence halls and agreed that the buildings were not filled to capacity.

Howard said that housing on campus isn’t necessarily crowded this year just because of the freshman class.

“It’s a number of things,” she said. She attributed it to larger classes and the fact that more students want to live on campus, which is an “attractive option for folks.”

Howard insisted that the two-year living requirement would still be in place regardless of the enrollment.

How the rest of the university will be affected by the larger class sizes Howard and George are unsure.

Howard cautioned that there would be a slight increase in pricing next year, but that it was part of the normal price increases that occur and not related to the increased demand.

She also said that though upper classmen may have a harder time finding a place to live on campus, DOR is attempting to solve that problem over the next couple of years.

“The long term goal is to put more beds on campus for upper classmen,” Howard said.

To ensure that this happens, Patti Helton, associate provost for Campus Life, is chairing a residence living task force to address the issue of ensuring that the residences on campus grow with the student population. This will include the rebuilding of the campus apartments.