JBU reports record enrollment

John Brown University’s fall 2012 enrollment is the highest in the school’s history, according to the university’s “11th Day” report. In total, 2,176 students were recorded on the census mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, representing 40 states and 39 countries, according to a JBU statement released Friday (Sept. 14).

The number, which includes traditional undergraduates, graduate students and degree completion students, represents a 2% increase over last year’s “11th Day” report. The overall retention rate for the Fall 2011 cohort was more than 84%.
 
“We are pleased to see continued, sustained growth in our enrollment,” Don Crandall, vice president for enrollment, noted in the statement. “Strong enrollment and retention is evidence of the great people and programs at JBU. Students want to come to John Brown University for the promise of what we can offer and they stay at JBU because of the experience they gain in and outside of our classrooms.”

Because graduate and degree completion program enrollment cycles are not timed with the traditional undergrad enrollment, JBU takes its official fall census in October. The university is projecting the October 2012 census to show 2,230 total students. These figures do not represent the 234 students taking college classes in JBU’s concurrent education program.

In the traditional undergraduate program, engineering continued as JBU’s most popular major (122). The other top majors include graphic and web design (99), family and human services (80), business administration (77), and early childhood education (74).

The top five home states for traditional undergraduates include: Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. The top five foreign countries of origin for JBU students are Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Faroe Islands and South Korea.

John Brown University is a private Christian university, ranked No. 1 Best Value among Southern regional colleges by U.S. News & World Report and listed as one of America’s Best Colleges by Forbes. JBU enrolls more than 2,400 students from 40 states and 39 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, degree completion and concurrent education programs.