Wittenberg University’s Admissions department office has surpassed the number of applicants for its upcoming freshman class than the numbers from previous years.
“So far, there are roughly 500 more applications as compared to last year,” Executive Director of Admissions Karen Hunt stated.
As applications into Wittenberg have increased, so has the goal of enrolling students. For the upcoming class of 2020, the Admissions office has set a goal of enrolling 550 students. Although they have not yet reached this goal, Hunt shared high hopes based on student deposits.
“We are trending ahead in applications compared to previous years, and ahead in commitments from deposited students,” Hunt stated.
Randy Green, executive director of financial aid, shared that this success is due to the tenacity of the admission outreach efforts.
“These efforts target potential students who meet or exceed our standard admission requirements,” Green stated.
Every year, the Admissions Department tweaks its programs and processes for student recruitment in order to generate more interest and more applications into Wittenberg. During the summer months, the department analyzes different tactics in order to plan for the next recruitment cycle.
If there ever was an increase in student enrollment, little would affect current students.
“Increased numbers of applicants, and students, does increase the need for on-campus services, but we will do all we can to continue offering the service and response times students have come to expect,” Green said.
Although an increase in student enrollment may cause worry for current students’ financial aid, Green stated that current students will not be affected. New students, however, may be affected.
“Current students’ financial aid is determined by rules set in place when their cohort entered Wittenberg. Some financial aid for incoming students scales very nicely with increasing numbers – the federal Pell Grant, for example – but other aid programs have predefined limits that do not change with enrollment numbers, such as our endowed scholarship program, which defines the amount available based on spending limits from the endowment,” Green stated.
As of fall 2015, Wittenberg had a student enrollment of 1,897 students. Although this number will constantly flex as students come and go, the Admissions Department has two goals in mind: to create a strong level of interest in Wittenberg, and to continually increase the amount of students who apply for enrollment every year.
