Next year's freshman class will likely see an increase in the number of Asian-American and American Indian students, according to admissions data.

More than 1,100 Asian-American students had applied to join next year's class as of March 28, compared with 720 at the same time last year, a 57 percent increase.

But this year's increase follows a year when the number of Asian-American applicants decreased significantly, said Randy Richardson, vice president for undergraduate education.

"I think we're about where we were two years ago," he said. "There's a lot of year-to-year fluctuation."

About 410 American Indians have applied, compared with about 320 last year, a 29 percent increase.

However, the number of black and Hispanic applicants is remaining fairly steady, a trend that President Pete Likins calls a cause for

concern. As of March 28, only three more black students applied this year compared to last year, and the number of Hispanic applicants has risen just four percent.

"Those are not big enough numbers," Likins said. "We are very conscious of the fact that we need to improve our yield. That takes energy and strategy."

Likins, who said he was pleased to see the rise in applications from Asian-Americans and American Indians, has led university-wide efforts to increase student diversity and improve access for underrepresented students.

Director of African-American Student Affairs Alex Wright thinks admissions officers need to be more proactive about visiting potential students' homes. That's the key to raising the numbers of black students, he said.

"You're talking about targeting your best and your brightest and getting a recruiter into the house," Wright said.

Recruiting efforts can be credited for the spike in American Indian enrollment, said Veronica Hirsch, an academic resource specialist for Native American Student Affairs.

Hirsch tributes the 20 percent rise to the fact that emissaries from UA have traveled to tribal communities across the state, meeting individually with students and their families to relieve some of their concerns, she said.

"I think in the past some students have felt very intimidated by the application," Hirsch said.

The university this year also hired a recruiter for American Indian students in Northern Arizona, Richardson said.

Applications for next fall's class were due last week, and the university is now turning its efforts toward persuading top students and underrepresented minorities to attend.

Administrators and faculty members will be calling about 400 of those students over the next few weeks asking them to attend, Richardson said.

It will be the first time this effort includes top administrators, but individual colleges have in the past had professors call top applicants.

"We have some experience with this but we're broadening it to a larger group of faculty and administrators," Richardson said. "We try to have a lot of personal contact with applicants."

Applications this year are also up for both resident and non-resident students, but fewer non-residents have been accepted than at this time last year. About 8,100 non-residents have been accepted, compared with 8,450 last year.

A drop in the number of out-of-state students could be cause for budgetary concern because they pay about five times as much in tuition as in-state students.

But both Likins and Roberts say it's still too soon to be concerned about a revenue drop that could accompany a decrease in the number of non-resident students.

The number of students admitted doesn't necessarily reflect the number that actually enroll, they said.