As the City University of New York faces record applications, its officials announced Wednesday that they are wait-listing first-time freshman applications received after Friday.

More students will be admitted if more space becomes available, and the remaining applications will be considered for admission for January 2011, according to CUNY officials.

The one big hope for many of our students was the CUNY system and now that it is getting so much more challenging to get into CUNY," said East Side Community High School college counselor Carmen Pena.

As of late April, university officials had received more than 70,000 applications for the fall, which is more than the previous record-breaking number of applications in 2009.

Applications for transfer and graduate students are not affected.

While speaking to the CUNY board of trustees last week, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said, "We are doing the very best we can to balance the need to keep the University open and available to the students who wish to study here. But we will do it a responsible way so that we can educate our students."

Between fall 2008 and 2009, the university's enrollment spiked more than six percent to about 260,000.

The number of first-time freshmen from city public high schools enrolling in the 23 CUNY schools has increased by 57 percent between 2002 and 2009, according to CUNY.

CUNY had an open admissions policy from the late 1960s through 1999.