Registrar's Office Estimates College Fall Term Population at 5,255 Men

Much of the fringe of uncertainty that has surrounded estimates for a record-breaking fall term College enrollment has been shaved away with latest calculations at the Registrar's office now centering on a total figure of 5,255 men, while plans for accommodation of the student hordes are expected to crystallize within the next seven days.

An approximate breakdown of the unprecedented College numbers includes about 1,900 men in Freshman standing of whom 1,400 will be newly-registered and 500 will have attended in either the spring of summer term. Two thousand, seven hundred upperclassmen will continue their studies from earlier this year, while another 1,000, plus or minus 200, will be former. Harvard men returning from the services.

New Rulings Due

Definite proposals for the shelter of unmarried undergraduates will be revealed later in the week, according to Assistant Dean Robert B. Watson '37, as soon as administrative approval has been obtained.

Men who have already signed their room contracts for the coming year will be unaffected by the new housing schemes, but another announcement on living conditions for all resident students is expected shortly.

Previously, applicators for living space in University dormitories have come uncomfortably close to the maximum allowed-even with rooms operating at 150 percent of capacity-while the possibility of a variation of several hundred from the present registration guess has made it advisable to look for a margin of safety in other means of housing.

Figures Are Indefinite

Pre-registration estimates for other post-war terms have tended to run high as a result of the unpredictable rate of discharges from the armed forces, so that the Dean's Office emphasizes the impossibility of any accurate figures until registration cards have been finally tabulated.

Certain amounts of "shrinkage," however, have been taken into account based on the relative certainly with which they have occurred in the past.

Returning students who may change their plans without notice and civilian Freshmen uncertain of their draft status are counted upon to leave vacancies in rooming space so that some of the most recently admitted men may find themselves accommodated in temporary quarters for two or three weeks after registration.

Register on Time or Else

Dean Watson pointed out that men enrolling late might be left without a room if they do not give warning, as those in temporary shelter will be given permanent assignments as soon as possible.

Married students, comprising only nine percent of undergraduates but considerably greater portions of graduate students, continue to face an unsettled housing situation with a considerable backing of unfilled applications, and the prospect of a house-less gap between the opening of the fall term and the completion of the Devens project in early October.

Among the immediate projects concerning Donald D. Hathaway, who directs the Housing Office's aid for married and graduate students, is the routing of hotels in the vicinity to house families for whom facilities are not prepared at the start of the next term.

Although a number of hotels have offered their services under a lease such as that recently negotiated with the Hotel Brunswick, no further contracts have been made at the present times.