Back to college doesn’t always mean back to campus

Online and graduate enrollments continue to drive growth for colleges and universities associated with Churches of Christ nationwide.

Despite a summer full of delays for international students seeking visas, the hit to international enrollment did not materialize.  Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., actually doubled its international undergrad total from 30 in fall 2024 to 61 in fall 2025.

Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., was the only school with a significant decrease in international students. There, foreign graduate students dropped 28 percent, most of that decrease coming in one- and two-year business degrees.

Related: Enrollment outlook: It’s complicated

Kristy Collins, dean of enrollment management at Pepperdine’s Seaver College, speculated that visa delays may have caused “students coming for one-year programs to put that off for a year.”

Several higher education institutions reported increased or record enrollments or record numbers of new students, bringing the fall total of 12 schools named in researcher Trace Hebert’s annual report to 37,625. Additionally, 11 of the 12 schools also accept high school students in dual enrollment courses — adding 2,522 to the enrollment pipeline.

Trace Hebert

Hebert’s report shows enrollment has been stable at between 37,000 and 38,000 since 2021.

Pepperdine remains the largest of all the universities with Church of Christ ties. Graduate enrollment, which includes its Caruso School of Law and several other colleges, comprises 5,238 students — well over half the total 8,701.

Abilene Christian University in Texas, had the largest undergraduate enrollment by a wide margin at 5,101. ACU’s headcount of 7,274 set a new record for the eighth straight year. Half of that total is online.

Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., enrolled more online than residential students. Faulkner’s total of 3,334 includes 1,752 online students across undergraduate programs and graduate/professional schools.

Rochester Christian University in Rochester Hills, Mich., also relies heavily on its online programs. Larry Stewart, director of alumni information, reported that fall headcount of undergraduate, graduate and online students  is 811. An additional 451 high school students are earning college credit through its dual enrollment program.  Most Rochester students take at least some coursework online.

Pepperdine students and fans cheery on the university’s Waves basketball team.

The smallest institutions in the group also reported growth. Crowley’s Ridge College in Paragould, Ark., increased enrollment 23 percent to 299. Enrollment at York University in Nebraska rose 4 percent to 408. And Florida College in Temple Terrace, Fla., enrolled 621, a new record. Florida College does not offer graduate degrees nor online classes.  It did report 212 dual enrollment high school students in addition to its residential undergrads.

Hebert’s study reflects that graduate enrollments have risen steadily for more than a decade. For example, Freed-Hardeman’s residential headcount enrollment of 1,656 students included a 14 percent bump in graduate students. Of its total, 501 are online students. FHU also enrolled 693 high school students in dual credit courses.

Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., has one of the larger graduate and professional populations as a percent of its whole. Of the university’s 4,740 students, graduate enrollment comprises 38.5 percent. Lipscomb is less invested in online enrollment with only 142.

Other institutions responding included Lubbock Christian University with 1,683, its highest enrollment since 2019. The figure includes 153 online students.

The Oklahoma Christian University Chorale sings “It is a Mystery.”

And Oklahoma Christian University reported 1,047 online students in its fall headcount of 2,823.

Harding University in Searcy, Ark., enrolled 4,684. Harding did not provide online enrollment data, but its website lists nine online degree and several certificate programs.

Students exit the Tine W. Davis Gymnasium at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala.

More than two-thirds of universities nationwide offer online programs.  And the 2024 Online Education Trends Report by BestColleges predicts continued growth, with 40 percent of administrators acknowledging plans to increase online program development budgets in the coming year.

The largest growth is predicted in health professions (29%), computer sciences (26%), and business (15%) programs, areas reflected among the schools associated with Churches of Christ.

George Saltsman, provost and vice president of academic affairs for ACU’s Dallas campus, has worked in online education at ACU and elsewhere for more than a decade.

Saltsman said online programs provide a strong opportunity for Christian universities “to reach post-traditional students that our campuses have not historically served well.”

“Their social lives revolve around their work life and their families, not a campus.”

“Our campuses were largely built around the opportunity to serve the traditional student participating in traditional activities under a traditional timeline,” Saltsman said.

These include events and social activities that provide a vibrant campus life experience, he noted.

“Adult learners don’t fit well in that environment,” he said. “They need something that works almost the opposite of that where they can participate on nights and weekends. Their social lives revolve around their work life and their families, not a campus.”

CHERYL MANN BACON is a Christian Chronicle contributing editor who served for 20 years as chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Abilene Christian University. Contact [email protected].

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