Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: MBU celebrates record-breaking enrollment
MBU celebrates record-breaking enrollment
November 15, 2007
With 4,598 students, Missouri Baptist University’s enrollment for the fall 2007 semester is the largest in the University’s 43-year history—continuing a pattern of unprecedented growth that has largely transcended the last three decades.
Aligning with total enrollment, the University’s fall 2007 full-time equivalency (FTE) of 2,558 also marks an all-time high, in addition to a nearly three percent increase from last fall. MBU’s FTE for the fall 2006 semester was 2,477.
New student enrollment at MBU's main West Saint Louis County campus is up nearly six percent from last fall with 384 new students. Transfer enrollment on the University's main campus saw a 9 percent increase while the number of first-time freshman grew three percent from fall 2006.
“As evident in this fall’s enrollment, Missouri Baptist University continues to be blessed as we strive to teach, empower and inspire our students for service and lifelong learning,” said Dr. R. Alton Lacey, MBU president. “Our growth is, in part, a direct result of a University culture that has long valued assessment and the adaptation of visionary ideas.”
Fall 2007 MBU Enrollment
Undergraduate Enrollment: 3406
Graduate: 1192
Total: 4,598
Pattern of growth
In the fall of 1977, 412 undergraduate students were enrolled at MBU. Since then, the University’s fall enrollment has—with the exception of minor drops or plateaus in three years—increased every year.
The addition of both undergraduate and graduate academic programs, along with the decision to offer classes at a variety of locations throughout the bi-state, have largely contributed to such growth.
Dramatic enrollment increases have specifically been seen in the University’s young Graduate Studies program every year since it began in 2000. Of the 4,598 MBU students, currently 1,192—more than 25 percent—are enrolled in graduate programs.
In addition, the University’s four extension sites located throughout Missouri and in Western Illinois have been significant contributors to the University’s growth. Currently, 1,286 students are enrolled at MBU through extension sites. Since the fall of 2004, enrollment at MBU’s Jefferson County extension—the largest MBU extension site—specifically has increased from 347 students to 484, almost a 40 percent increase.
The University’s high school dual-enrollment program, called EXCEL, has grown from 22 students at one high school in the fall of 1983 to an enrollment today of nearly 1,900 students who attend more than 40 schools in the bi-state. The program is the third largest of its kind in the St. Louis region.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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