wfn.org | LCMS enrollment, church-work student numbers highest ever

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Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod News

Contact: joe.isenhower@lcms.org

For the first time ever, more than 3,000 students are enrolled in  programs
leading to church vocations at the 10 Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
colleges and universities, based on figures for the start of the 2000-2001
academic year.

Another all-time high is the number of Missouri Synod students enrolled at
those schools -- 4,673, or 361 (almost 8.4 percent) more than a year ago.
In addition, all of the Synod's 12 schools, including the two seminaries,
have reported enrollment increases.

The Synod's Board for Higher Education/Concordia University System (BHE/CUS)
offices gathered the enrollment data and released it last month.

"We are certainly pleased with these numbers," said Dr. William F. Meyer,
executive director for the BHE and CUS president. "For me, they indicate
that the Lord has blessed the hard work of many people on behalf of our
schools and his kingdom.  This certainly includes the fine stepped-up
efforts of college and seminary admissions counselors, pastors and others
who are recruiting future church workers and leaders," Meyer said.

He also attributed the growth to:

--activity in the Synod's "For the Sake of the Church" effort to double the
number of LCMS students at the colleges and universities within 12 years;
and

--an increase in the number of qualified college-age youth in this country
over the decade beginning this year, in line with demographic and population
projections.

The figure of 3,048 church-work students at the 10 Concordia University
System schools is 131 (or 4.5 percent) higher than for the 1999-2000 school
year, which was about 2 percent less than for 1998-99. The number of
pre-seminary students is 422, up almost 22 percent from the 347 at this time
last year.

Total enrollments for the 10 institutions and the two seminaries for this
fall stand at 15,689, an increase of 616 (4.1 percent) over a year ago. The
count includes both undergraduate and graduate students.

Enrollments at the CUS schools and their increases from fall 1999 are:
Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Mich., 604 (up 31); Concordia University,
Austin, Texas, 854 (up 51); Concordia College, Bronxville, N.Y., 610 (up
41); Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., 1,264 (up 59); Concordia
University Wisconsin (Mequon), 4,603 (up 88); Concordia University,
Portland, Ore., 1,040 (up 12); Concordia University, River Forest, Ill.,
1,900 (up 15); Concordia College, Selma, Ala., 532 (up 7); Concordia
University, St. Paul, Minn., 1,928 (up 115); and  Concordia University,
Seward, Neb., 1,366 (up 135).

This year's total fall seminary enrollments stand at 988, compared with 926
a year ago. Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, reports a total of
416 students (up 35 from last year); and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, 572
(up 27).  The two seminaries have a total of 228 new resident students this
fall, including master of divinity students and those enrolled in
altenate-route programs.  That is 40 (or 21 percent) more than the total of
new M.Div. students a year ago.

Those enrolled at CUS schools for 2000-2001 from Lutheran church bodies
other than the LCMS total 1,241 (up 219 from last year at this time); other
Protestants, 3,117 (up 15); Roman Catholics, 2,156 (up 134); other faiths,
697 (up 392); unchurched, 832 (down 5); and "religion undeclared," 2,435
(down 452).

The number of students in church-work programs offered by the colleges and
universities, other than pre-seminary, breaks down as follows: Lutheran
teacher, 1,852 (up 134); director of Christian education, 374 (up 9);
director of Christian outreach, 33 (up 7); deaconess, 33 (down 9); lay
ministry, 203 (up 14); director of parish music, 23 (up 3); parish nurse, 75
(no change); social worker, 32 (down one); and parish worker, 1 (no change).

Students enrolled in the seminaries' programs are: master of divinity, 652
(up 22); alternate-route residential, 80 (up 7); alternate- route DELTO
(Distance Education Leading To Ordination), 51 (up 31); and graduate, 144
(down 4).

Tuition and room-and-board costs for the current academic year, also
included in the CUS/BHE report, vary among the colleges and universities.
The lowest of those two combined costs is $9,400, at Concordia, Selma. Then,
the number jumps to $15,700 at Concordia, Mequon, the second lowest. The
highest ($21,040) is at Concordia, Irvine.

As has been the case in recent years, between 60 and 80 percent of the
students at CUS schools receive some form of financial aid, according to
Meyer.

For the seminaries, Concordia, Fort Wayne, gives combined annual costs to
students of $14,792 ($10,682 for tuition, $4,110 for room and board) and
Concordia, St. Louis, $15,200 ($10,800 for tuition, $4,400 for room and
board).  Both seminaries guarantee financial aid for students, so that they
do not incur debt from tuition, Meyer said.