Enrollment at all-time high

BY LANCE SCHWARTZ • CHIEF COMMUNICATION OFFICER

Bethany Lutheran College’s Fall 2021 enrollment is, once again, at an all-time high mark. Exactly 800 students began the semester taking classes from Bethany. Included among the 800 students are undergraduate (660) which is also an all-time high, graduate (15), high school students enrolled at Bethany through Minnesota’s Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) or through an online partnership with schools both locally and throughout the nation (119), and a small number of non-degree seeking students (6).

Notable among the enrollment figures is the 2021 first-year class of 228 students. This represents a record number of new students at Bethany. Another widely-used enrollment figure for colleges and universities is the full-time-equivalency (FTE) statistic. This number is used as a key metric for institutional reporting. Bethany’s FTE number stands at 710, another record. This exciting news comes on the heels of last fall’s record enrollment of 778 students. The College released the figures after the 10th day of classes on Wednesday, September 8, 2021.

Bethany is also blessed with a robust international student enrollment which stands at 128 students from 29 countries. These students from throughout the world present Bethany with the opportunity to bring the precious Gospel message to more and more souls.

As a result of the enrollment growth, Bethany is also experiencing the highest number of students living on campus in the school’s history. There are 422 students living in college housing.

President Gene Pfeifer said about the enrollment records, “These excellent enrollment figures are welcome news. We’re very thankful for our continued growth, even as the recruitment climate remains challenging. We continue to focus our efforts on serving the needs of our students well, and on establishing new, attractive programs of interest for prospective students. Those efforts are proving to be a catalyst for growth. These numbers move us closer to realizing our enrollment objectives for coming years.”