Title: 1995 ELCA College Enrollment
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
January 25, 1996
1995 ELCA COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
96-01-002-LC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The 28 colleges and
universities of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America opened the 1995-96
academic year in September with total
full-time enrollment at 44,036. The
academic year opened with "mixed emotions,"
said Dr. James M. Unglaube, ELCA director
for colleges and universities. "It marks
the first year that Upsala College, East
Orange, N.J., is missing from the scene
since its founding in 1893." The college
closed its doors at the end of the 1994-95
academic year.
This academic year for the 28 ELCA
colleges and universities has been a very
good one measured in enrollment terms. The
44,036 total is just 28 students below the
1994-95 figure which included more than 700
students at Upsala College. The remaining
28 institutions saw their enrollments rise
by 679 students or 1.5 percent.
Part-time enrollment fell by 71
students or 0.8 percent, from 8,440 to
8,369. Full-time enrollment rose at
eighteen of the 28 institutions. Part-time
enrollments have fallen 11 percent since
1989.
"In losing Upsala the church lost the
institution which was serving communities of
persons of color to the greatest extent,"
said Unglaube. Thus, the representation of
persons of color among full-time students
fell from 9.1 percent in 1994-95 to 8.3
percent. However, if Upsala is excluded for
1994-95, the remaining 28 institutions saw
their full-time enrollment of persons of
color rise by 162 students, from 3,513 to
3,675, an increase of 4.6 percent. This
number rose at 20 institutions.
International student enrollments have
been declining for a number of years at ELCA
institutions. The total of full-time
international students is 1,304, or three
percent. If the Upsala figures are excluded
for 1994-95, the remaining institutions saw
this number rise by nine students. "There
is encouragement in the fact that 1995-96
marked the end of a decline in this figure
going back to 1992. International students
from developing world settings place a great
burden on the limited financial aid
resources available to them on campus. This
has likely been at least partly responsible
for the decline," said Unglaube. Thirteen
of the 28 institutions experienced increases
here.
The enrollment of Lutheran students
totaled 14,072, or 32 percent of the whole.
This is a decline from last year#s total of
14, 291.
ELCA COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minn.
Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.
Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kan.
California Lutheran University, Thousand
Oaks
Capital University, Columbus, Ohio
Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis.
Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.
Dana College, Blair, Neb.
Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa.
Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa
Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn.
Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C.
Luther College, Decorah, Iowa
Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Neb.
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa.
Newberry College, Newberry, S.C.
Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash.
Roanoke College, Salem, Va.
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
Suomi College, Hancock, Mich.
Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa.
Texas Lutheran College, Seguin, Texas
Thiel College, Greenville, Pa.
Wagner College, Staten Island, N.Y.
Waldorf College, Forest City, Iowa
Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa Wittenberg
University, Springfield, Ohio
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For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir.,
ELCA News Service
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir.,
(312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst.
Dir., (312) 380-2956
