Zoe Coleman got into the ASU nursing program on her first try. But for the close friend she convinced to join her, there were two rejections before an acceptance letter.

The College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation can afford to admit only 60 percent of the Arizona State University students who apply each year, even as the state struggles with a nursing shortage.

"I wouldn't say it's cutthroat," Coleman said, "but it's very competitive."

Such competition is unusual at the nation's largest university, which graduates roughly 8,000 students today. However, ASU officials worry it might become more commonplace as its enrollment swells and its cash flow shrinks.

Among this week's graduates are a record 900 teachers and 250 nurses, including Coleman.

ASU has greatly expanded teacher and nurse training in recent years to try to satisfy the state's ravenous population growth. Since 2002, the number of education and health care graduates jumped 40 percent, university data shows.

ASU President Michael Crow said the university will have to cap its enrollment if state lawmakers make another round of deep budget cuts later this year.

"The fewer you admit, it means the graduating class for five or six years from now is smaller and we have fewer teachers, fewer nurses, fewer everything," said Elizabeth Capaldi, ASU's provost.

But with tax revenue plummeting, lawmakers say there is little choice but to extract millions of dollars from higher education.

The Arizona Board of Regents cut $6.6 million from ASU last month; the state budget deficit for the coming fiscal year is an estimated $1.9 billion.

For the first time in recent memory, it's an open question if ASU's enrollment boom can continue.

The nursing college doubled in size the past six years and has planned to accelerate its development in its new home at the downtown Phoenix campus, said dean Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk. With the opening of new clinics and health care simulation centers, the college provides students 1,300 hours of experience before they graduate.

"They've done a great job in trying to increase the number of nurses available," said Joey Ridenour, the Arizona State Board of Nursing's executive director.

At ASU's main campus, the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education is beefing up graduate programs as the university builds new departments on branch campuses.

The School of Educational Innovation and Teacher Preparation at ASU Polytechnic in Mesa aims to train science and math teachers, which the state sorely needs, said George Hynd, dean of ASU's education college.

ASU students must have a B average in their general education classes to become education majors. Hynd said the college doesn't intend to increase admission requirements or limit the number of students it accepts, at least not for now.

"The reality is these budget cuts kind of roll out over a couple fiscal years," he said. "That could force us to make some really difficult decisions."

The forces of supply and demand have inflated the nursing college's admission standards, where the increase in applications has far outpaced funding to hire additional faculty.

"Even with the doubling of our numbers, we remain highly competitive," Melnyk said.

Most students apply going into their junior year. Nursing students' grade point averages are typically 3.6 or higher, giving applicants little room for error during their freshman and sophomore years.

Academic counselors advised Coleman that she'd need straight A's to guarantee a spot.

Dan Weberg graduated in 2005 with his bachelor's degree in nursing and a 3.3 grade point average. Had he applied to the undergraduate program today, he'd likely face rejection.

Instead, in August he'll be one of the first to graduate with ASU's cutting-edge health care technology master's degree.

The nursing college's students have become more elite, a change Weberg said he's noticed while running a simulation center for undergraduates.

"Every year, we have to ramp up what kinds of simulations we're doing because the students come more prepared for what we're throwing at them," said Weberg, an emergency room nurse at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn hospital.

But as ASU moves to tighten standards - for the first time at some colleges - the university leaves out some qualified students.

"There's a whole dynamic to people that is missed," Weberg said. "GPA doesn't determine if you're going to be a good nurse or not."