A record number of high-achieving students comprise Eastern Mennonite University’s traditional undergraduate first-year class for the 2016-17 academic year, according to both the university’s fall semester enrollment report and statistics related to first-year class composition and demographics.
Forty-five first-year students are enrolled in the Honors Program. The class, which consists of 223 students, also enters with historically high GPA and SAT/ACT scores.
From 2001 to 2010, EMU averaged 205 first-year students, according to past records.
Enrollment figures were released by the registrar’s office following the university’s official census date of Sept. 12. Enrollment totals are reported as of this same point each semester to reflect registration as it has settled after two full weeks of classes.
Graduate programs, including the seminary and students from the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, site, enrolled 512 students.
“Energy is high at EMU as we begin the fall semester together. Through this annual report, we see a thriving and vivid snapshot of the students we serve and the impact we make locally, regionally and globally,” said Jim Smucker, vice president of enrollment. “Our goals are also clarified: to increase to capacity the number of people who join our community and who help us live more fully into our call as followers of Christ as we teach, mentor and learn from those who share our journey with us.”
Smucker added that the campus community continues to engage in “many, sometimes tough, conversations about what it means to be diverse theologically, ethnically and socio-economically — an important conversation that pushes us out of our comfort zone and calls for changes in systems, assumptions and practices. We’re grateful to wrestle with this together with those who join our community of learning and spiritual formation.”
In-state growth continues
Statistics related to the composition and demographics of the first-year class are compiled by the admissions department, under Director of Admissions Matt Ruth.
In-state students continue to increase, with 67 percent compared to 61 percent last year and 57 percent in 2014.
The university continues to be an attractive draw to local residents. This first-year class includes 57 students from Shenandoah Valley high schools, including 16 from Harrisonburg High School and 13 from Eastern Mennonite School.
Nearly a third of those new students plan to study biology or nursing – a reflection of EMU’s highly respected and sought-after graduates of both programs. EMU’s STEM programs, including the new engineering program, are housed in the newly renovated Suter Science Center with renovated classrooms and state-of-the-art laboratories..
Another third are enrolled in EMU’s education program, which offers 15 endorsements in P-12 settings, including early childhood, elementary, special education, and various endorsements in PreK-12 and 6-12 including elective and core subjects. Graduates are highly sought-after, especially in local schools: 94 percent of 2015-16 program graduates who sought positions in education are employed in P-12 education settings.
The class also included 17 international students from seven countries: Albania, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Honduras, South Korea, Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.
Grad programs and seminary draw working professionals
Much of EMU’s enrollment growth in the last 20 years – since it took the “university” name – is due to the establishment of graduate programs and the Adult Degree Completion Program.
The master’s in education program, catering to working teachers and offered at Harrisonburg and the Lancaster site, has the largest number of part-time students (161 at both sites).
Three graduate programs debuting since 2014 — in organizational leadership, interdisciplinary studies and the Collaborative MBA— have increased enrollment over previous years. The Collaborative MBA is administered by four partner schools: Goshen College, Canadian Mennonite University, Eastern Mennonite University and Bluffton University.
Additionally, the new master’s degree in restorative justice, offered through EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), has already begun to attract students, many working professionals in a new limited residency option, from around the world. That program, the first of its kind in the United States, is an outgrowth of its pioneering role in teaching restorative justice practitioners through CJP and the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice, co-directed by professors Howard Zehr and Carl Stauffer.
Eastern Mennonite Seminary, with locations in Harrisonburg and Lancaster, enrolled 104 students, with the majority enrolled in part-time programs.
University community meets diverse educational needs
A total of 1880 persons were enrolled in one or more classes as of the reporting date.
This number includes students in all of EMU’s programs, from traditional undergraduate students to non-traditional students in adult degree completion programs; part- and full-time students in graduate programs at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and in EMU’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies; and students in the Intensive English Program, as well as those taking non-credit courses in a variety of programs.
Among the total enrollment figures are students at EMU’s site in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and those who study online.
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