Sardines Aren't That Bad

The explosion of new housing options at UI since the early 90s has always been perplexing. Part of the answer is the increase in enrollment, which has gone from 36,081 in 1991 to 41,918 in 2008. Why the increase? It isn't like the campus needed more students. Consider that the groups that have increased the most are the grad and international students, which are both sources of higher tuition. This additional tuition money was needed to make up for the decline in state funding, I suppose.