Other private universities in the region have been cutting employees. The University of Dayton, a significantly larger university with around 11,000 students as of last year, announced it was making cuts that affected 65 employees in March. The university has been maintaining its enrollment.
Last year, Wittenberg University trustees approved a plan to cut 30 faculty and 45 staff after several years of decreasing enrollment.
Cedarville administrators attribute the growth to a focus on Biblical values, but also accredited offerings in healthcare and engineering – rarer offerings for a Christian university.
“I think what Cedarville has found is a really unique niche where we offer 175 different academic programs, accredited professional programs that just aren’t available at a lot of Christian universities,” said Janice Supplee, dean of graduate studies at Cedarville. “But then at the same time we’re saying, ‘you know what, we’re going to take our faith seriously.’”
Cedarville’s online enrollment has taken off as well as it residential demographics. More programs are being offered, which school officials say has helped to recruit new students.
The university also has identified a target student demographic, and administrators say they are able to make sure students who apply to Cedarville would be a good fit. Mark Van Loo, vice president for enrollment at Cedarville, said the university has reached out to alumni, homeschool students and Christian schools to recruit new students.
Most students are from Ohio, Van Loo said, but there are students from 52 U.S. states and territories, and from other countries.
Van Loo said the university has been intentional in tying faith with academics. The university’s mission is to “transform student lives through excellent education and intentional discipleship and submission to biblical authority,” he said.
“What we mean by that is that we want to be faithful to make sure that we adhere to the faith that we hold to, but then also to make sure that we offer the best education possible to students,” Van Loo said. “As we communicate that to prospective students and their parents, we find that there definitely is... a market out there who wants to hear about Cedarville and what we’re doing.”
In addition, students who apply to Cedarville submit a testimony of God on their application, even for graduate school. Required chapel is held daily, and the university says faith is closely tied to all subjects.
Van Loo said the retention for Cedarville is also high, at 89% last year. The national average for higher education retention was 77.5% in fall 2023, according to Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a federal database.
Supplee said Cedarville students also know they can get jobs. Job placement is roughly 98% at the undergraduate level, according to Cedarville officials.
“We’re not talking about small little companies you’ve never heard of,” Supplee said. “We’re talking about the Hondas of the world. And they’re coming because they’re like, this is the type of person I want working in my business.”
She said that helps to convince both graduates and undergraduates that Cedarville is a worthwhile investment.
Cedarville is growing in other ways, too. The university recently launched six artificial intelligence-based programs which launch this year and just concluded a $175 million fundraising campaign. Part of the money will go towards renovating and building the campus.
Supplee said in the next 10 years, she expects the campus to continue to grow, adding more programs, especially in the online space, and adding AI programs as the campus adapts.
She said the clear mission at Cedarville helps attract students and lets Cedarville stand out in a crowded field of universities.
“Really, an institution that knows who it is, knows really where its niche is in the world is and how it’s going to serve students is a tremendous advantage, especially when you’ve got three or four thousand colleges and universities competing for students in the United States,” Supplee said.
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