Prospective students anywhere in the world who want to discuss DePaul University's admissions requirements, financial aid, educational programs and student life won't have to travel any farther than the nearest computer to get answers from DePaul representatives on May 23.

     That's when DePaul will hold its first-ever Virtual Open House, an event that has been offered by only a handful of universities in the nation. From 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., dozens of DePaul representatives will be available online to answer questions from cyberspace visitors who can enter over 20 different live chat rooms that will be linked to university's web page: www.depaul.edu.

     Prospective students can engage in live interactive discussions with deans and administrators in chat rooms for admission, financial aid, and all eight colleges and schools at the university. Other chat rooms will feature DePaul representatives discussing international and minority student issues, residence life, university athletics, suburban campuses, university ministry, community service, career services, campus security and alumni relations. Current students and parents of students also will be available for chat room questions from potential students and their parents.

     Internet open houses and other Web applications for prospective students are becoming important admission tools for universities interested in attracting students who have grown up in the cyber age, said Raymond Kennelly, DePaul's dean of admissions. Kennelly said DePaul already averages 600 e-mail requests for admission information a month and that number is growing.

     "DePaul's Virtual Open House is a unique way to use technology and the convenience of the Internet to showcase the university's programs and services," Kennelly said. "It's an easy way for prospective students and their families to get information about a university from the comfort of their own home computer."

     Kennelly got the idea for the cyberspace open house from the dean of admission at DuQuesne University in Pittsburgh, which is believed to be one of the first universities in the nation to organize such an event. Kennelly traveled to Duquesne in November to observe the school's virtual open house and was impressed that the small university's chat rooms attracted 2,000 Web visitors, many more than would have attended a traditional open house.

     With an enrollment of about 19,500, DePaul is the largest Catholic university in the nation. The Chicago university enrolled the largest freshman class in its 101-year history this academic year, with 1,749 freshmen entering the university in the fall, an increase of 267 students (18 percent) over last year.