Last year was uncharted territory for inquiring students and the colleges reaching out to them, because it all had to be done in a completely new way.
Covenant College’s newest freshman class had the hardest year to choose a college and prepare their minds for the fall semester. New ways of discovering colleges, new ways for universities to attract students, and knowing that the last couple of classes at Covenant were quite small in comparison to previous years, this is an exciting feat! So, this is a new energy for, maybe an altered college experience, but nonetheless, a great one.
Admissions counselors at Covenant have a large workload, and acquiring the knowledge and skills to make the process of admitting students minimally taxing for new students is admirable. Covenant’s admissions staff worked tirelessly to get students ready for the autumn, and were quite successful. They were still acquiring students right up to the first day of classes, and since each admissions counselor works with so many students, they were on their toes to stay on top of the success they were seeing in the number of students coming in.
“Being an admissions counselor is a tiring role. They will be checking in with you and reaching out to you, but also reaching out to a hundred other students at the same time, so we are really intentional about enabling them and empowering them, and equipping them to be relational because we believe that to be a representation of what Covenant is about,” Brad Tomas, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management at Covenant College, said. “We are very intentional about our team being relational, approachable, and helpful, so we try to educate them about everything going on around campus.”
This year, the team was ahead of the game in sending out plenty of messages and packets to students in outreach. Maybe more so than earlier seasons at Covenant.
“I think two or three years ago we were too quiet, and we are catching up to make sure that we are in front of the right students as much as possible,” Tomas said. The admission team wants to make sure that it is made clear how interested Covenant is in the individual.
According to Tomas, it is always nerve-racking at the start of seeing the actual numbers of incoming students; but this year, instead of the numbers dwindling or fluctuating, they saw a consistent lead that continued to grow from the beginning of admitting students until the school year began.
“The work and effort was paying off,” he said.
Colleges had to implement some new tactics to make school more accessible during Covid. For example, since ACT and SAT tests were cancelled or postponed in 2020, they were not required for application or admission. Covenant implemented this as well so as to not fall behind competitively with other school options or opportunities. Tomas is interested to see how this affects the academic rigor and development of this class.
In regard to majors, the leading few are pretty consistent from year to year. Science and Biology, Psychology, Business, and English, but Tomas said Political Science saw a “sizable jump.” The areas of interest ebb and flow, but for Covenant, this is a year that is exhibiting growth, potential, and kinetic energy.
“There is so much about this class and campus that is bringing some momentum for us, and I think the rest of campus can feel that,” Tomas said. “Covenant exceeded its target number of 270 students for the fall of 2021 and ended up with 294 incoming students… Now the rest of the community can embrace these students, and this class having had a stranger college decision-making year than anyone else, it is exciting to see.”
The incoming students are now settling in, finding friends, getting comfortable on the mountain, and the campus is refreshed. All are enthusiastic for worship together, for the thoroughly missed sense of community, and for relational, God-honoring coursework.