Grace College Breaks Record for Undergraduate Enrollment

After welcoming a record incoming class of 471 in the fall of 2021, Grace College knew that a high bar was set for 2022. But this fall, the school set a record in a new category, welcoming 1,307 undergraduate students at the Winona Lake campus – the most in school history. This was a result of recruiting the second-largest incoming class of 465 students this year and a strong retention rate. With an additional 42 new undergraduate students through its online associate degree, College Launch and Akron program, Grace is welcoming 507 first-time students. The school’s overall enrollment totals 2,069 students this semester.

“We praise the Lord for the amazing enrollment figures we’ve seen this year at both the college and the seminary,” said Dr. Drew Flamm, the new president of Grace College and Seminary as of July 2022. “It is so encouraging to hear the stories of our students – whether they are here on campus, online, at our Akron location or even on-site at their own church through Deploy – and be reminded of why Christian higher education matters. We are all here to better know Christ and make Him known.”

In Flamm’s first few months as president, he has placed significant emphasis on the seminary’s original mission statement, “To know Christ and make Him known.” Flamm has stressed the importance of studying all fields and disciplines for the purpose of sharing who Christ is with the world.

While the school has seen growth in many of its 100+ majors, minors and concentrations, Grace is increasing its focus on the STEM fields, including health science, computer science, medical imaging and engineering. Several of these programs have reached significant milestones. A few weeks ago, the Department of Engineering was granted ABET accreditation, the same bar of accreditation that is used to assess engineering programs of all sizes, including Purdue and MIT. The medical imaging major, added in 2021, grew by 60% this year.

As a result of installing its first international admissions counselor in 2019, the school welcomes students from 20 new countries around the world this year. Altogether, the Winona Lake campus now totals 78 international students representing 36 different countries and has the highest enrollment of Hispanic students of all time.

In addition, the number of student-athletes grows another year as the school continues to provide a wide variety of athletic opportunities at a range of levels. Nearly 30% of the student population (378 students) participates in a varsity, junior varsity or club sport on campus.

Grace Theological Seminary has seen tremendous growth, adding 152 new students to its expanding programs this year and increasing its numbers by 34.5%. The online Master of Arts in Ministry Studies program grew by 92%. Deploy, the seminary’s competency-based seminary program, is now serving 70 seminary students around the country on-site at their respective churches (a 45.8% increase from last year).

More than 60 students are also enrolled at the school’s Akron location, where students can receive an M.A. in Local Church Ministry as well as a bachelor’s in biblical studies.

Grace Online welcomed more than 100 new students this year. The MBA program, housed in the School of Business, saw significant growth for both online and undergraduate students at Grace who are enrolled in the school’s accelerated bachelor’s and master’s program which allows students to work concurrently toward both degrees.

Grace College anticipates more growth in the years to come as it continues to offer free tuition for residential students who come from households in Indiana earning less than $65,000. The college is also implementing a new initiative called “Grace Guarantee” which promises all students from Kosciusko County a minimum of $12,000 per year in scholarships and grants from Grace College.

To find out more about Grace College, including how to visit and apply, visit www.grace.edu.

Photo attached: Grace College’s second-largest incoming class of 465 students is pictured in the shape of a “G” as a depiction of joining the Grace family.