 Fewer undergrads are enrolling at American University for this coming fall. University leaders project fall enrollment around 7,400 below target. The incoming freshman class is about 1,864. That's 386 below target. And it would create a $23 million budget shortfall for AU in the coming year. Last year's $25 million funding gap was filled by spending adjustments. Complicating matters? An apparently greater need for financial aid than the university anticipated.