<p>I don’t know that we’ve determined what this will mean for subsequent years, but I would be very surprised for us to aim as low as 750 routinely. A more realistic possibility is 800. However, I know that we’ll be very sensitive to keeping enrollment at a level where we can accommodate all first-year students (and most upperclass students too) in campus housing (that is, of those who wish to be housed, which is typically 99% of first years and about 92% overall) and not overwhelm any of our academic infrastructure. </p>
<p>I hope that those of you who like “inside baseball” on this issue will read an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education this week, but I’m not sure if their content is available to non-subscribers. Perhaps if you go in through a library that subscribes to do the search you’ll have access to it. It is called “This Year, Colleges Recruited Students in a Hall of Mirrors” in the May 29 edition. Here’s the link: [The</a> Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i38/38a00102.htm]The”>http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i38/38a00102.htm). Maybe it will give you more context into just what a challenge it was this year for all kinds of schools. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that Richmond is committed to excellence and the quality of the student experience, and happily, we have the resources to protect that, even in these challenging times. No one here is ever going to increase the class sizes dramatically because it is antithetical to our promises to our students and families. What the particulars of how this will play out for next year is not something we’re ready to discuss just yet (if anyone is discussing it already, I’m not aware of it), but you can be sure our values are not going to change.</p>