Kevin Coriolan | News Co-Editor

Despite the largest freshman class since 2005, Buena Vista University (BVU) saw a decrease from last year in total enrollment.

The total enrollment census number in 2012 was 907 students skimming this year’s unofficial number of 900. The difference was influenced by students leaving the university. The spring to fall enrollment fell to 89%, below last year’s 91.6%.

After their first year, 68.9% of students were still currently on campus for their second year. In 2012, 78.8% continued their education as a beaver.

“This community meeting will be decidedly different than this time last year. It is decidedly more optimistic,” President Fredrick V. Moore said last Thursday, Aug. 29 during his speech to faculty and staff.

He may have been alluding to the positive growth seen in the university’s financial situation, the confident incoming class numbers, or both.

A bulk of the meeting was dedicated to the 2013 freshmen class which rejected 75% more applications than last year.

The admissions staff saw a successful term with 262 freshmen currently attending classes at BVU. The number does have a small chance of dropping lower before the official census date of Friday, Sept. 6, 2013.

Transfers into BVU are up 12 from last year, and readmits are currently at 10 students.

A contributor to the success is Vice President for Enrollment Management Mike Frantz who is back in his first year of his second term at BVU. Frantz previously worked for the BVU admissions staff from 1989-1998. He set BVU’s all-time freshman class record during his spell as director of admissions.

Nowadays he gives credit to others including student panels, campus tours, and athletics.

“ The campus as a whole did a great job of representation,” Frantz said.

Nationally, there are no signs of correlation among small private colleges. Frantz called the country’s enrollment climate a “mixed bag” with different schools experiencing different results.

The gain from surrounding areas followed the trend of rising enrollment for BVU with Buena Vista County bringing in 32 students compared to 29 and 22 from 2012 and 2011, respectively. Cherokee County is represented with 10 students this year and only 1 from both 2012 and 2011.

Photos courtesy of University Marketing and Communications