Ball State University says it’s hit a new record number of undergraduate applications for students wanting to attend the Muncie school.  IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services Kay Bales says more than 26,800 undergrad hopefuls have applied so far.   That beats a record set in 2016 of more than 23,000 applications.

And applications are still coming in.  Ball State has a priority deadline for fall enrollment of March 1, but Bales says the school will still consider more applications, even through the summer.

This is the first year Ball State is accepting test-optional applications – where students don’t have to submit scores from college entrance exams like the SAT or ACT.  It’s the largest public university in Indiana to do so.  Bales says about 30 percent of applications are coming in without test scores, which mirrors national trends.

But an increase in applications doesn’t always mean a gigantic freshman class in the fall.  That’s because numbers show 70 percent of hopeful students that apply to Ball State also apply to five or more other colleges.