September 2009 Enrollment and Budget Update

Bethel University’s College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) has enrolled 2,827 students for fall 2009. The enrollment was measured on the 10th day of class—a widely practiced standard for assessing enrollment, allowing for initial changes that occur the first few days of class. CAS enrollment is up 1.3 percent from last fall’s enrollment of 2,792 and includes 1,914 students who are continuing enrollment from the previous semester, 727 new freshmen, 23 students returning after an absence, and 163 students transferring from other higher education institutions.

As of September 15th, there were 594 students enrolled in the College of Adult & Professional Studies (CAPS) and 949 students enrolled in the Graduate School (GS), down 0.1 percent from last year at this time. Additional students will begin their enrollment at CAPS and GS in subsequent weeks. Bethel Seminary begins classes on September 28 this year and those enrollment numbers will be available at a later date.

“There is much for us to celebrate,” said President Jay Barnes. “Six months ago we were anticipating that the College of Arts & Sciences would likely enroll 60 fewer students than last year. Thanks to the hard work and prayers of our faculty and staff, we’re seeing enrollment that is better than our best-case scenario.”

While CAS enrolled more students, significantly more money—over $3 million more than last year— was spent on financial aid in response to increasing need among CAS students as well as increasingly competitive financial aid packages from other colleges. “The increased financial aid was a trade-off for the increased enrollment. I’m glad to have more students at Bethel, and I think increasing financial aid was the right thing to do given the circumstances,” continued Barnes.

What does this mean?

“The end result is that we have exceeded our estimate for enrollment, but used nearly all of the extra tuition dollars meeting the financial needs of our students; bottom line, we’re right on budget for the year. For a very challenging year, this is good news,” said Barnes.

“While we did put some projects on hold, including salary increases, at this time we don’t anticipate any further immediate reductions; however, we won’t be able to make any spending increases either,” explains Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Kathleen Nelson. “The economy will continue to challenge us and we will all need to continue to be vigilant in controlling expenses.”

+ New or replacement position requests will continue to be carefully evaluated by the President’s Cabinet.

+ Faculty and staff should continue to delay any non-essential travel, purchases, or expenditures.

+ Unfunded capital projects (see update on biology labs below) will continue to be on hold and reevaluated as part of the 2010-11 budget process.

Earlier this summer the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees recognized the need for expanded biology labs to support the numbers of students studying in Bethel’s science programs, and preliminary work began on an expansion between the Academic Center and Clauson Center. Based in part upon the enrollment news, this past week the Executive Committee authorized immediate completion of the labs allowing for student use during the spring semester. Important to note is that this project will be funded entirely with designated and estate gifts from generous donors and not from the operating budget. At a time when other funding sources were not an option, this is a great example of the value that a planned estate gift can have.

“I realize there will be some disappointment that we’re not able to increase salaries or other budget items, but I choose to see overflowing classrooms this year as a gift,” concluded Barnes. “We’re asking staff and faculty to make extra sacrifices in order to be fiscally responsible. I hope that this budget tightening is forcing us to be even wiser in the decisions we make and sets Bethel up for success and growth in the years to come.”