Spring enrollment, retention set university record
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
The Lipscomb University community is celebrating several milestones as spring semester 2016 is in full swing.
With official enrollment numbers in, Lipscomb University has an all-time record enrollment for spring semester with 4,319 students. Typically, spring semester enrollment is less than fall semester due to losing a graduating class in December and natural attrition between fall and spring semesters. More than 400 students received degrees at Lipscomb’s fall commencement on Dec. 19.
This spring semester saw not only an increase in undergraduate enrollment, but also in graduate Bible and psychology, and in the D.Min. and Ed.D. programs among others over this time period last year. The spring enrollment includes 2,275 undergraduate students, 219 graduate business students, 421 Master of Education and 86 Doctorate of Education degree students, 94 graduate Bible students, 146 graduate psychology students and 280 PharmD students among others.
Another record number is at the heart of this semester’s enrollment increase.
“The real story is in our retention rate from fall to spring semester,” says Rick Holaway, vice president for enrollment management. “We had a strong enrollment across the board in undergraduate and graduate enrollment. So we did a good job replacing the numbers of students who graduated in December. But the increase is largely due to the fact that students stayed with us from one semester to the next. There are many factors that contribute to that. I think a primary factor is that everyone — faculty, staff and students — see that they play a role in making Lipscomb a place that is a caring learning community.”
Holaway says the retention success is largely the result of the work of the Academic Success Center, led by Dr. Brian Mast, associate provost. According to Mast, the first-time freshman retention rate from fall to spring semester hit an all time record of 95.2 percent. The fall-to-spring retention rate has been in the 90 percent range and increasing over the last decade, but Mast said his goal for this year was to hit the 95 percent mark. And he did.
“The record head count this semester is due to a collaborative team effort between the enrollment and retention areas,” says Mast. “Enrollment is not just about adding new students each semester, which we did. It also includes retaining them.”
There are a number of factors that impact retention, Mast says.
“I feel certain that students immediately feel like they are at home on the campus of Lipscomb University from the first day they are here,” he suggests. “Another major factor is the phenomenal faculty that we have here at Lipscomb. As I meet with students and ask them about their Lipscomb experience, it almost always comes back to how much they love their faculty. Relationships are important, and students feel a strong sense of community and family on the campus of Lipscomb University.”
The Academic Success Center has also been a factor in meeting students’ needs and helping them meet their academic goals.
“The Academic Success Center has been a great resource for students as they enter an academic community unlike any they have been associated with prior to Lipscomb,” says Mast. “Since it opened in 2012, students have visited the ASC thousands of times, which has allowed them to find and access the resources and services that are beneficial in helping them reach their academic goals. The response has been amazing, and the difference the services they have found is making in their lives and academic pursuit is evidenced by our high retention rate among other indicators.”
The ASC offers a variety of resources including a math lab with tutors; the Writing Studio with trained writing consultants; a graduate assistant who serves as an academic coach who works with students to identify and prioritize goals and to develop strategies for achieving them; collaborative study spaces for study groups; supplemental instruction sessions, that are student-led group study sessions the provide in-depth explanations of course material and are a complement to classroom learning, peer tutoring and mentoring; individual tutoring room; and laptops, desktops, iPads, printers and LCD screens that are available for student use.
For more information about the Academic Success Center click here. For information about applying to Lipscomb University visit admissions.lipscomb.edu.