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Catholic institutions of higher education around the US are enjoying increased enrollment numbers in 2023. The data comes from The Cardinal Newman Society, a non-profit organization that has promoted and defended Catholic education since 1993.
According to the society’s report, there was a significant increase in families seeking Catholic colleges for higher education this year. This has led to an “unprecedented” increase in both the rates of enrollment and financial support in the 2023-2024 academic year. Before breaking the data down by college, the report noted that the successes of these Catholic schools contrasts the current plunging enrollment rates of secular colleges and universities.
At Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina, administrators were already riding high from breaking their enrollment record in 2022. In 2023, however, they have once again exceeded their highest enrollment, this time by 10%. The college is currently experiencing the highest number of students in its history at 1,654.
Benedictine College, in Kansas, is also celebrating a record number of undergraduate students, with 2,213 attending. The Catholic college is proud to report that its student body has grown by 121% over the last 20 years. The University of St. Thomas-Houston is celebrating a similar, albeit smaller, record enrolment, surpassing 800 students for the first time.
The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC, has experienced the highest number of incoming students in the last 5 years. The data from CUA, ranked 178 on US News’ list of Best Colleges, noted that the ratio of incoming male to female students is about 50/50, which contrasts with secular schools where the ratio favors female students at 60%.
The Franciscan University of Steubenville and the University of Mary are both reporting their largest incoming classes in their histories. In Steubenville, the university welcomed 772 students to their campus, the largest class since the school’s founding, in 1946. Meanwhile, the University of Mary’s largest class now stands at 559.
Smaller, but still significant, increases can be seen in Christendom College in Virginia, which saw its enrollment spike by 31%, with 172 freshmen bolstering their ranks to over 550 students, while Wyoming Catholic College, launched in 2007, has grown by 72% since 2013, now educating 189 students.
