SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco State University is receiving a large number of applications for fall 2005 -- 30,000 so far, with more continuing to arrive at a rate of about 500 per week, officials say.

That's a 22 percent increase over last year for SFSU, which enrolled 28,806 students this fall and has set Jan. 14 as the last day prospective freshman can apply for the fall semester. Transfer students and those going after second baccalaureate degrees have until Feb. 28.

"We need to take steps to limit the number of admissions so that we can provide enough classes for those who are admitted and choose to enroll here," Jo Volkert, SFSU's associate vice president for enrollment planning and services, told the Oakland Tribune.

Other campuses in the California State University system are also reflecting a similar trend. Officials at Cal State Hayward anticipate that the number of applications that will pour in by April 30 will top last year's numbers by 10 percent. The campus has received 5,914 applications so far.

San Diego State University received 48,722 undergraduate applications, a 14.7 percent increase over last year and a campus record. The campus plans to enroll about 7,600 in the fall.

One factor for the record number of applications could be the continuing increase in the number of students graduating from high school, which is projected to keep growing through 2008.

CSU, which serves around 409,000 students a year at 23 campuses, has also been urging students to apply early if they want to secure a spot in the fall at the campus of their choice.