Enrollment is up on the Wartburg College campus, despite national concerns about how the coronavirus pandemic would affect colleges and universities of every size.

Full-time enrollment hit 1,525 this fall, up from 1,462 last year and the highest it’s been since 2014. Headcount, which includes students enrolled full- and part-time, is 1,564 compared to 1,505 in 2019.

“New students wanted to enjoy our special Wartburg community experience, and our returning students wanted to be on campus and engaged in their academics and co-curricular activities,” said Edith Waldstein, vice president for enrollment management. “And we welcomed all of them with open arms! Our Admissions team and the entire Wartburg campus community was hitting on all cylinders to bring about this increased enrollment.”

The college’s minority enrollment also continues to hold strong, with 199 U.S. students of color enrolled at the college in 2020. Among those are a record-setting 72 Hispanic students. Retention among Wartburg’s U.S. students of color also climbed from 76.7 percent last year to 84.4 percent, the highest it’s been since 2009. In total, American multicultural and international students comprise about 20 percent of the college’s total enrollment.

In recent years, the college has launched numerous strategic initiatives, including a multicultural student mentoring program and mock interviews with multicultural alumni leading the process, to help bridge the gap in retention. Other efforts include CAP+, a mentoring program for first-year students; a summer bridge program that helps prepare first-year students for the rigors of college and connects them to key campus leaders prior to the start of the school year; a job search resources webinar series specifically for multicultural students; and first- and second-year meetings, conducted by Student Life and the college’s Pathways Center, for all multicultural students.

“Improvement around serving our multicultural students has long been a topic of conversation within Pathways and across campus,” said Derek Solheim, Pathways Center director. “It certainly takes a village to retain students in today’s competitive environment, and we are fortunate to have dedicated people across our campus who contribute to student success.”

Though international student enrollment was flat, the students represent a record 61 countries.

Overall retention increased slightly to 87.6 percent, with the most significant increase coming between the first and second year, which was up to 83 percent, the highest it’s been since 1997. Retention for international students at Wartburg sits at 93 percent.

Other highlights from this year’s enrollment and retention report include:
• 512 new full-time students entered Wartburg in 2020, up 76 from 2019.
• 38 states are represented on campus.
• More than 25 Christian denominations and seven world religions are represented.
• The top five majors are business administration, biology, psychology, music therapy and elementary education.

“We are excited and proud to have so many students with us this year from a broad range of U.S. and world cultures,” Waldstein said.