npr:

Emmanuel Mahgerefteh has wanted to attend Virginia Tech for as long as he can remember.

When he was accepted after applying early to the engineering school, he was thrilled. So were his parents. But an email he received two weeks ago has led him and his family to re-evaluate his plans for next fall.

Last month, Virginia Tech offered about 1,500 incoming in-state freshmen financial incentives to delay enrollment after the school over-enrolled by more than a thousand students. Nearly 8,000 students accepted offers from an admission cycle of over 30,000 applicants.

Expecting around 7,000 acceptances and factoring in the usual “summer melt” of 400 students, school officials had a goal class size of 6,600. But people kept accepting after the target number was hit, right up until the May 1 deadline.

The select group of students who received the incentive offers are enrolled in some of the most populous majors — engineering, biology and University Studies (undeclared). They had until last Friday to show interest in three options: taking a gap year with a $1,000 scholarship, enrolling in a year of free community college or registering for free summer courses while taking the fall or spring semester off. All options would guarantee that the students start at Tech the following year.

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