SPU Sets a Record While Managing Growth and Reshaping Its Enrollment

SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY welcomed a record-setting 3,779 students to campus when classes began on September 27. The incoming class is made up of 896 students, closely matching the target number set out by Seattle Pacific�s Blueprint for Excellence, which will reshape the University�s enrollment over time. Total enrollment for Autumn Quarter is 2,934 undergraduate, 71 post-baccalaureate, and 825 graduate students.

�SPU is in a new era,� says Marj Johnson, vice president for administration and university relations. �On-campus enrollment has been at capacity for four years, and we�re now working intentionally to attract students who fit SPU�s vision and to improve graduation rates rather than to simply increase in size.�

Key to the University�s strategy is the ongoing effort to attract the most academically qualified students, more males, and more ethnically diverse students. Among new students this year, SPU enrolled 311 male students, up 6 percent from last year to 36 percent of the class; and 141 ethnic minority students, up 3 percent from last year to 16 percent of the class. The incoming class also includes a record number of National Merit Scholars.

Student retention continues to improve significantly as well. Eighty-five percent of last year�s freshmen persisted as sophomores this fall, a 6 percent increase over last year, while the five-year graduation rate has increased to 62 percent, also a 6 percent increase over last year. According to Johnson, the improvements coincide with the implementation of SPU�s Common Curriculum in 1998, greater selectivity at admission in recent years, increasing perception of value, and a responsive financial aid program.

�The goal of all our efforts is to attract and support a balanced enrollment made up of students with the qualifications and motivation for significant involvement in their communities, our nation, and the world,� she says. �It is energizing to watch as members of this year�s incoming class begin to explore how they will engage the culture and change the world.�

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