Lipscomb breaks 3,000 enrollment mark with largest freshman, graduate classes
Janel Shoun |
The university's official fall enrollment of 3,054 is an 11.3 percent increase from last year and includes its largest ever freshman class and graduate enrollment.
A total of 658 freshmen are enrolled this fall, the fourth consecutive year of freshmen enrollment increases totaling 35.2 percent since 2004. Graduate enrollment jumped 66.4 percent from last year to this year's enrollment of 634.
“At Lipscomb we have long held a 3,000-student enrollment as a benchmark for our success in reaching new populations, varied in age and career goals, who will benefit from a quality education in a Christian context,” said Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry. “Now that we have reached it, we have a much stronger foundation upon which to continue expanding and enhancing academic programs as well as continuing to attract more students. People will look back in five years and see an institution that is much more successful because it has been much more creative in reaching traditional and graduate students.”
When Lowry began his tenure at Lipscomb in 2005, the combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment totaled 2,518 students. In just three years, enrollment has jumped by more than 500 students (21.3 percent), thanks in large part to 10 new graduate programs, seven new undergraduate programs and $44.5 million spent in construction.
“When I was looking for colleges, my family and I stumbled across Lipscomb online. We set up a visit and really liked it here,” said Corey Evans, a freshman from Antioch. “I am a biology major and heard that Lipscomb has a great reputation for their biology department, so that is one reason I chose Lipscomb. It’s just a really cool school. I’m really enjoying my freshman year.”
Eighty more freshmen than last year have enrolled at Lipscomb, including 26 students from Madagascar enrolled through a partnership with the Malagasy government and 18 Latino students who received Hispanic Achievers Grants from the university.
These two programs alone attracted 82 new graduate students to Lipscomb this fall. Other graduate programs, such as professional counseling and programs designed specifically for working teachers, also contributed to the record-breaking graduate enrollment jump from 381 last year to 634 this year, the largest ever one-year increase in graduate enrollment.
“Lipscomb is quickly becoming the choice in Nashville for professionals who want to enhance their careers through quality higher education,” said Lowry. “Lipscomb has been known among local employers for years as producing excellent employees with strong ethics and strong foundational skills. We found over the past few years that employers value that same ethical, thorough education at the graduate level, and they are sending their employees to the same institution that has proven itself in the past.”
The Nashville and education communities are noticing the changes. Lipscomb University jumped six spots to number 19 in the U.S. News and World Report's "2009 America's Best Colleges" guidebook, a ranking determined in part by peer reviews, and this summer U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) praised the university for its environmental conservation efforts.
Aren Everson, a freshman from Brentwood and a Ravenwood High School graduate, said he had observed the improvements on campus and was encouraged to enroll. “It’s cool seeing all those changes over the past few years. You shouldn’t choose a school just for the cool restaurants, but it does add to the decision,” he admitted. “And they have future plans to add even more (facilities) to campus.”
“We have worked very hard to understand the needs of our community, to utilize our resources to serve those needs, and to engage with the community in broader more beneficial ways. The result is a very creative, vibrant university that is making a difference not just in the lives of its students but in quality of life in the greater Nashville community as well,” Lowry said.