Bluffton’s enrollment numbers for this year’s freshmen class was an increase compared to previous years. This year’s freshmen class of 242 students is the largest since the 2011 class of 250 students.
Robin Bowlus, the vice president of Advancement and Enrollment Management, broke down what numbers they are tracking. They are tracking first years including transfer students, first-time freshmen, total undergrad, full-time equivalent (FTE), FTE with graduate students, and total students. Bowlus said this year would be Bluffton’s third year of growth. She believes Bluffton has grown due to a few things: changing their recruitment plan, being test flexible, and how they have handled Covid-19.
“Three years ago, we changed our admissions recruitment strategy,” said Bowlus. “We hired all Bluffton alums, so they’ve all had the Bluffton experience. They can tell that authentic story when they go out and meet with high school students. That has been a huge game-changer.”
Jenia Freewalt, sophomore art education major, works closely with the freshman class through her campus jobs. Freewalt is a resident advisor, Becoming a Scholar mentor and Kit Guide. She has 15 freshmen to advise in her residence hall as well as the freshman in her BAS class and those she has met as a Kit Guide.
“I believe that there is a chance that Bluffton got so many new freshmen this year because Bluffton University was one of the few schools that I have heard of to continue in-person classes during the pandemic,” said Freewalt. “Bluffton University worked hard to keep classes in person and keep the campus safe during the pandemic, and I believe that paid off in the long run. Bluffton University also made it easy to visit campus in person as opposed to a lot of other schools’ virtual tours.”
Bowlus said that in-person visits opened on May 12, 2020, with a total of 1,200 people visiting campus last year.
Bowlus also talked about Bluffton’s retention growth, measuring the number of students that start and stay at Bluffton. The current senior class has had the least retention on campus. Starting out, the senior class totaled 173 students, now only having 80 students. The current sophomore and junior classes have had better retention. Bowlus believes it is because of President Jane Wood.
“She [President Jane Wood] has put such an emphasis on campus vibrancy, more campus events, campus landscaping, trash, and things that really make the student experience a lot better,” said Bowlus. “I really attribute the retention pieces to her leadership.”
Freewalt has had conversations with many freshmen and believes they will have good retention.
“I have also seen and heard a good number of the freshmen class get excited about their graduation, sports competitions, trips, and other things in the future that lead me to believe that they will be sticking around for longer than this year,” said Freewalt.
Table showing enrollment numbers of the freshman class. Created by Sara Poiry.
Bowlus said that they start the recruiting/prediction process in students’ sophomore year of high school. She said that recruiting is an 18-month cycle. She also said that if a student visits, applies, and fills out their FAFSA for Bluffton they have an 80% chance of attending in the fall.
