University of Wisconsin System applicants reached an all-time high this year.

Although many UW System school enrollment totals still require finalization, a preliminary total of 178,000 students were enrolled in UW System schools as reported by UW System President Kevin Reilly at last week’s Board of Regents meeting.

Reilly also noted the total state increase in students was about 3,000 based on the tentative student enrollment total.

“Despite the very difficult economy, the overall enrollments at our institutions have not decreased — and in fact, have gone up,” Reilly said at the Board of Regents meeting.

However, with an increased number of college applicants, acceptance rates have declined as universities are forced to turn away more students.

Data from the U.S. Department of Education states the average acceptance rate at four-year colleges has declined from 71.3 percent in 2001 to 66.8 percent in 2007.

The admission rate for the 2008-09 UW System school year was 52.7 percent, which was 4.5 percent less than this year’s admission rate of 57.2 percent.

The total enrollment for the 2008-09 school year at UW was 42,030 students, slightly lower than the total for the 2009-10 school year, which is 42,099 students.

UW spokesperson John Lucas said UW tries to target the same freshmen enrollment numbers every year and students who transfer to UW have a greater chance of being admitted.

“We try to enroll a substantial number of transfer [students] every year,” Lucas said.

With an increase in applications, the process has become something the admissions staff has to manage more closely, Lucas added.

The ease of the application process for public four-year universities is also a factor in the increasing trend.

According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “for the Fall 2008 admission cycle, four-year colleges and universities received an average of 72 percent of their applications online, up from 68 percent in Fall 2007 and 58 percent in Fall 2006.”

Between factors of the economy and increased applications, the overall total of expected applications is becoming more and more difficult to judge.