St. Mary's College of Maryland might face a deficit of $3.5 million in tuition after granting admissions to about two-thirds of students required for a full freshman class next academic year. The university's admission department is trying hard to fill up the remaining 150 available seats.

The admissions office is ready to accept late applicants and transfer students. The university also posted a message on its official Web site saying: "Applications are still being accepted - apply today!"

The university initially aspired to admit around 470 freshmen for this fall, additional 20 students from its standard class strength. However, only 360 students have pledged their commitment to the program. The officials are alleging that this number will further decrease over the summer.

Similar to other colleges and universities across the country, St. Mary's too increase their application pool every year to select the best among the prospective students. Even though the number of applications has been hiked by 14 percent this year, not enough students expressed interest in attending the university.

The admission department has received 32 more applications after the deadline and is yet to obtain confirmation letters from 25 students on the wait list. So, the university is still optimistic about the admissions.

Meanwhile, President Joseph R. Urgo said that those students, who decide not to enter St. Mary's at the 11th hour, generally opt for a cheaper institution in the state as the university's tuition and fee is on the higher side at $14,775 this year.

Last month, St. Mary's trustees approved tuition freeze this year after qualifying for new state funding.

Presidne Urgo said that he has already alerted his staff and faculty members to severe budget cuts in the coming future. Although this year the credit situation is better, the shortfall will pose a serious challenge to their operating budget for the next academic year.

Urgo said that they will not fill any vacant positions and promised to introduce measures carefully so that employees are not in danger of losing their jobs and the quality of education is not hampered.