FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 10/2/2008

Greenville, IL — After two years of record-breaking traditional student enrollment, Greenville College hits another high mark with a traditional enrollment of 1139 for the fall 2008 semester. Total enrollment numbers including graduate and adult programs won’t be finalized until later in October, but senior vice president for Enrollment Management, Pepper Dill, anticipates the total enrollment number will be higher than last year as well.

This is the third consecutive year of traditional enrollment increase and the fifth consecutive year in new student population increase. 111 more new students began the 2008 fall semester than did five years ago in the fall of 2003 — a 34% increase. Dill gives credit for this continued growth to the staff, “the right people,” three of which are Michael Ritter, dean of Admissions, Marilae Latham, director of Financial Aid, and Dr. Will Boyd, dean of Student Success. “We’ve got a good team of folks here” says Dill, “They’re not only good people; they are the right people who are zealously disciplined at implementing a good plan.”

The “plan” that Pepper refers to, and that the admissions office follows, focuses on personalization and consistency of message. “The branding of the college and cohesiveness of message are key,” Dill explains. The Admissions team, led by Dill and Ritter, put together a plan that takes students from an introduction to Greenville College, to trust in “the product,” to enrollment. The Admissions team at Greenville enjoys their jobs and always makes sure they are putting students first.

GC is also pleased with its student retention, with 71.3% of last year’s freshmen returning this fall. “We’ve been working to try to keep retention up and consistent,” reports Dill. The college shifted the paradigm from “retention” to “student success” striving to see students succeed and go on to do what is best for that individual. “We want to make sure they ‘feel the love’,” explains Pepper in reference to this new paradigm.

As Greenville College continues to grow, so do the expectations for the college. “You’re going to grow again, right?” is a frequent question posed to Dill. He answers, “Yes, but GC will plateau at some point, and some of that will be due to our campus facilities bursting at the seams.” The GC community and faculty are thrilled with the continued growth, but agree that growth creates challenges. There is less classroom space and some programs, like education and digital media, are growing without enough professors. Dill describes these as “growing pains” and a regular part of the process.

Enrollment in non-traditional courses offered through Greenville College is also on the rise. One example of this growth is in the Undergraduate Teacher Education Partnership (UTEP) program with nearby Lewis & Clark College and Kaskaskia College. The program has 50 new students this year compared to 23 a year ago. GC anticipates a continued increase in enrollment in these non-traditional offerings.

“The Lord has blessed Greenville College with increase,” says Dill, “and we want to continue to be good stewards of His provisions and faithful to His calling.”

Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1500 traditional undergraduate, graduate and adult degree completion students. Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis.

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Annie Zeller
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