Record High Number of New Students Enroll at Alma College
Alma College enrolled its largest new student class in its history
this fall and its largest overall enrollment since 2001, according to
the school’s final official student headcount.
New students total 452, eclipsing the previous high of 442 new students
in 1992. The total enrollment of 1,355 students represents a nine
percent increase over last year’s 1,215 headcount. Alma’s all-time high
enrollment of 1,447 occurred in 1995.
“The increased enrollment is the result of a convergence of several
factors, including strong academic programs, new student opportunities,
enhanced facilities, earlier scholarship offers and a campus wide
commitment to connecting with prospective students,” said Karen Klumpp,
vice president for enrollment at Alma College.
“In the last several years, several new initiatives have ramped up
opportunities for students while building on the ongoing conviction
that students achieve best when faculty work alongside to challenge
them and help them reach beyond what they thought they could do,” she
said.
The level of engagement between faculty and students ranks in the top
five percent of colleges in the nation, according to the 2006 National
Survey of Student Engagement, said Klumpp.
New initiatives at Alma include the Center for Responsible Leadership,
which provides access to world travel and world leaders. The Posey
Global Leadership Program, also in its second year, provides student
grants to international opportunities.
“We also renovated student meeting and living spaces after asking what
mattered most to students,” said Klumpp. “Athletic opportunities were
increased and made more visible. Students were offered academic
scholarships earlier than in the past and were given opportunities to
compete for additional scholarship funding.
“Throughout the student recruitment year, the College focused on its
solid academic core and faculty commitment to students, and then
addressed additional student opportunities and upgrades to their living
and learning spaces,” said Klumpp. “The campus as a whole — admissions
staff, faculty, coaches and current students — made these opportunities
more visible.”
Also impacting enrollment was an increase in the retention of current
students, said Klumpp. In addition to Michigan, Alma enrolls students
from 12 states and nine countries.
Posted: Tue, September 25th, 2007 at 4:40PM
