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Iowa State University reported record enrollment for the fall semester, with 27,945 students. All in all, this is probably a good thing.

The previous record of 27,898 was set in 2002, so it’s not like the numbers are soaring out of control. And finding more customers is better than losing them.

Still, we have to wonder if our state universities are gradually getting closer to the kinds of problems being faced by state schools across the nation.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in July: “Leaders at California State University said this week that they were preparing to raise tuition by 15 to 20 percent this fall and to cut enrollment in the 2010-11 academic year by 40,000 students, which would be the largest single-year net loss of students in the system’s history and the largest percentage loss since World War II. As part of the plan to cut enrollment, Cal State announced that it would not accept applications for spring admission next year for the first time in its history.”

Iowa is nowhere near California’s level of economic desperation, fortunately. But that’s not the only state that’s getting panicky about higher education. In Arizona, for example, the three state universities saw a 20 percent reduction in state funding this year even as enrollments grew by 4 percent, according to the Arizona Republic.

“The cut prompted the Arizona Board of Regents to impose unprecedented tuition surcharges on the heels of a tuition increase for this fall,” the newspaper reported.

Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa are modest in size compared with many state schools.

But at some point, a university leaves healthy growth behind and enters the realm where classes are hard to get into, teaching quality suffers and infrastructure becomes overburdened.

It may be time to start examining what levels of enrollment we can afford without shortchanging our students.