Sacramento State officials reported on Friday that the university has experienced a 6.7 percent overall increase in applications received for the fall 2008 semester.

The increase includes applications from transfer, graduate and first-time freshmen.

The University Office of Enrollment Management said that as of Jan. 31, 10,030 students have already been accepted to the university, a 44 percent jump compared to the same time last year.

University officials credit the boost to a strategic push toward shortening the turnaround time between application submissions and admissions.

The proactive approach comes as Sac State and other California State University campuses attempt to deal with a system-wide mandate to move ahead application deadlines. The deadline for Sac State was changed from Aug. 1 to March 1 in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts.

Paul Rios can be reached at [email protected]