{"id":59718,"date":"2025-09-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=59718"},"modified":"2025-09-16T17:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:47:13","slug":"emu-reports-double-digit-growth-in-new-undergraduate-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-reports-double-digit-growth-in-new-undergraduate-students\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU reports double-digit growth in new undergraduate students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><em>University celebrates largest percentage increase in 10 years<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMU is proud to announce the results of its annual fall census, which was conducted on Sept. 8 following the 10th day of classes. The census numbers reflect undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree and non-credit enrollment on the Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, campuses for the Fall 2025 semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the main takeaways from the census data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A 10% increase in the size of the incoming undergraduate class, which includes first-year, transfer, readmitted, and aviation students, from Fall 2024 to Fall 2025 (from 218 to 239 students).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An 11% increase in the number of new first-year undergraduate students since last fall (from 160 to 178 students).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A historically high percentage (48%) of first-year undergraduate students identify as first-generation college students (up from 35% last year).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Another record high, nearly half (49%) of the incoming class is made up of student-athletes (up from 46%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/ir\/fact-book\/\">Explore more data in the EMU Fact Book.<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThanks to the tireless efforts of our dedicated enrollment teams, and the unwavering support from faculty, staff, and the entire EMU community, we are seeing an increase in our incoming undergraduate enrollment numbers for the first time since the pandemic in 2020,\u201d said <strong>Braydon Hoover \u201911, MA \u201921<\/strong>, vice president for enrollment and marketing at EMU. \u201cAmid the headwinds that continue to buffet higher education today, we celebrate that more students are choosing EMU to help them fulfill their educational and professional goals, beginning their journeys as unifying leaders with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the incoming Class of 2029:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>43% identify as students of color (among the most diverse in EMU history);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>73% hail from Virginia, with more than 20% from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>15 states, Puerto Rico, and four countries are represented; and&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the average GPA is 3.49 (unchanged from last year), with nearly one-fourth of students entering EMU with at least 10 college credits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The top three majors of the incoming class, starting from the most popular, are nursing, biology, and business administration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While a total 730 students make up the undergraduate student body, 358 graduate students are enrolled at EMU, including 126 new grad students joining the university this semester. Graduate programs that saw the largest gains since last year are Biomedicine (up 45% to 16 new students), Seminary (up 41% to 17 new students, boosted by its new Doctor of Ministry program), and Graduate Teacher Education (up 4% to 43 new students). Students in EMU\u2019s graduate programs represent 20 states and five countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thirty-five educators are renewing their licensure this year (compared to 22 last year) through EMU\u2019s Graduate Teacher Education program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>EMU\u2019s four-year and six-year graduation rates are 55% and 60%, respectively. Fall 2025 marks the seventh consecutive year that the university\u2019s retention rate, which is generally used as a gauge of student satisfaction, has measured 74% or higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow more than ever before, the world needs EMU graduates\u2014leaders specially trained to serve as bridge builders and peacemakers,\u201d said Provost <strong>Dr. Tynisha Willingham<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s gratifying to see our students continue to answer that call and equip the skills needed to make positive change in our world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University celebrates largest percentage increase in 10 years EMU is proud to announce the results of its annual fall census, which was conducted on Sept. 8 following the 10th day <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-reports-double-digit-growth-in-new-undergraduate-students\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU reports double-digit growth in new undergraduate students<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":59719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515,5725,17562,264,5730],"tags":[17357,13574,18567,6861,6947,18214,11776,18209],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-59718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-admissions","category-digest","category-graduate-programs","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-admissions","tag-braydon-hoover","tag-census","tag-enrollment","tag-graduate-programs","tag-graduate-teacher-education","tag-retention","tag-tynisha-willingham","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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