At the once-shuttered Antioch College, the 75 students who make up the class of 2016 erupted in cheers as they were welcomed for the first time to the campus that previously sat dormant for three years.

The second incoming class more than triples the student body at Antioch, which closed in 2008 amid financial turmoil. The newly independent private college, founded in the 1850s, is now trying something unique in the country: to come back from the grave and regain its place as one of the most innovative liberal arts schools in America.

For now, the Yellow Springs campus is growing carefully and slowly. Last year there were 35 students. This year there are 106.

“These are especially important days. They’re full of promise,” President Mark Roosevelt told new students during convocation Tuesday.

“It’s a big day for all of you, but it’s also a big for those of us from this college and this village. Until we have a graduation ceremony three years from now, this is our biggest day. The day we welcome our new students,” said Roosevelt, a great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. He was superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools prior coming to Antioch, served also as a Massachusetts state representative and was a former Democratic candidate for governor of that state in 1994.

Antioch is returning with a strong backing from alumni, who led in the purchase of the campus, its nearly $52 million endowment, and the 1,000-acre Glen Helen Preserve in 2009. In January, the endowment received a major boost due to a $35 million payout from the sale of YSI Inc., formerly Yellow Springs Instrument Co. and which Antioch was a major shareholder.

The college is now separate of Antioch University, also located in Yellow Springs.

The first four incoming classes are members of the Horace Mann Fellowship, which comes with a full-tuition scholarship for four years. The award drew the interest of 3,100 applicants for this year’s 75 admission slots — making Antioch one of the most selective schools in the country, Roosevelt said. While students do not pay the annual $26,520 tuition, they do pay $8,800 for room and board, although most receive a discount on that, as well.

Rebuilding from the beginning

“The lack of having to pay tuition is really a weight off my shoulders,” said 18-year-old new student Jacob Branson, a native of Austin, Texas. Branson’s older brother graduated from Antioch in 2000 and helped reopen the school, he said.

But Antioch still faces several threats, Roosevelt said. The college lost its accreditation when it closed in 2008. After filing a preliminary 1,200-page report, Antioch was recently notified it will receive a site visit in November 2013. The school cannot gain accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools until its first class graduates in 2015, at which time their degrees are retroactively accredited. Antioch is approved by the Ohio Board of Regents to grant degrees.

There are also decades of deferred maintenance, and funds must be raised.

“The largest challenge in front of us — there are a lot of challenges in front of us — but the largest is: Can we raise the money?” Roosevelt said.

The college is using about seven of its 21 buildings. Its nearly 160-year-old North Hall dormitory recently underwent a $5.7 million renovation, which included installing geothermal wells and solar panels on the roof. This fall, a $3.5 million partial renovation of the 1930s Science Building begins. Antioch is also in the process of developing a master plan for the campus.

In the future, Roosevelt told the students he will know the college has made it when it renovates the landmark building, Antioch Hall, which is at the center of campus.

While Antioch is using its reopening as a chance to think freshly about the way higher education is delivered, it is continuing its legacy of cooperative education. Students are required to complete at least four quarters of full-time work off campus. They must also be proficient in a second language and go through seminars on global issues such as food, water and energy.

“It’s a work in progress,” Roosevelt told the new students. “It’s what will make this experience for you both rewarding and challenging.”

Having the new students is “a really positive evolution,” said second-year student Forrest Humphrey, a 19-year-old native of Wisconsin.

“We’re growing as a community. That’s something to look forward at. The bigger the community, the more ideas,” said Nargees Jumahan, a 20-year-old from California, who is joined this year by her 17-year-old sister, Nafisa.

Antioch hopes to add another 120 students next year. Eventually, it looks to have a student body around 600, Roosevelt said.

“It’s exciting to have more students in the region,” said Sean Creighton, Yellow Springs resident and executive director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education, of which Antioch is a member.

“A thriving college really contributes to the vibrancy of the place,” he said.