This year's freshman class by the numbers

News | Bethany Hanson

Bethel recently welcomed 661 freshmen to campus. These wonderful additions are joining forces with continuing students, re-admits and transfers to total an undergraduate student body population of 2,789 students, with numbers expected to reach around 2800 within the next few weeks. With so many new faces around, it’d be helpful to learn a little more about them. Let’s take some time to get to know the new freshman class, shall we? 

The most popular major among the freshmen, painstakingly decided by more than 15 percent of the class, is…Undecided. Business and economics claim the No. 2 spot, followed by nursing with the bronze. 

There are 30 states represented by the freshman class. Minnesota ranks first, with 77 percent of the incoming students originating from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Wisconsin and Illinois took second and third place, respectively. There are also several students who have come to Bethel from countries such as Canada, Kenya, Nigeria and China. 

As can be expected, 3 percent of the freshmen have the last name Johnson, making it the most common surname. If you ever forget a freshman’s first name, your best guess will be either Rachel or Matthew. The incoming class includes 18 Rachels and 16 Matthews.

We have a smart bunch of students this year with 35 valedictorians and salutatorians among the incoming class and three quarters of the freshmen receiving academic scholarships. One fifth of the incoming class will represent Bethel in their respective sports. 

The gender ratio is now 59 percent girls to 41 percent guys. The ratio is getting closer to 50/50… Good luck getting Gadkin and Nikdag tickets, upperclassmen.

Our incoming students are also well on their way to being world-changers, having been on mission trips to places such as Lithuania, Liberia, Guam, China, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Japan, India, Tanzania, Madagascar and Kenya, to name a few. 

Welcome to Bethel, Class of 2016!