The university is waiving the usual $40 early action application fee for students affected by Hurricane Ike, an admission official said.

Victoria Herrera, Houston regional director of admissions, said students whose lives have been disrupted by the hurricane can request to have the fee waived by filling out a form for students impacted by natural disasters found on the admissions Web site.

Brown said the deadline for early action applications was Nov. 1, but it has now been moved to Nov. 15 for all students, regardless of whether they have been affected by a natural disaster.

According to the admissions Web site, early action is for students who wish to be reviewed for acceptance based on high school transcripts through their junior year.

When the hurricane hit Houston on Sept. 12, students were in the middle of getting their applications for college together, Herrera said.

“College counselors were very behind because they were out of school for two weeks,” Herrera said.

Students have been appreciative of the university’s effort to help them deal with the hurricane in this way, Herrera said. Many students’ homes were damaged in the storm and as a result, many were displaced.

Ray Brown, dean of admission, said the university started using the natural disaster supplement to the application as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

The form asks students to describe how the natural disaster has affected them, Brown said.

“This is a real and significant need for these families, and we want to be as accommodating as we possibly can,” Brown said.