Sept. 16, 2005

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Morningside College celebrates excellent freshman class
Total enrollment exceeds 1,400; Graduate enrollment increases dramatically

“Count day” for fall enrollment at Morningside College was Tuesday, Sept. 13, and today Morningside College President John Reynders released fall enrollment figures and statistics that show an increase in total full-time and part-time enrollment from 1,204 last fall to 1,440 this fall, an increase of 20 percent over last year. Statistics also reflect significant improvement in the academic profile of the freshman, or first-year, class over recent years. Pictured to the right: The Class of 2009.

“Last year we established that the ‘right size’ for Morningside is about 1,100 full-time students, including a class of some 300 freshmen,” said Reynders. “With that goal in mind, our emphasis in recruiting students became more focused on helping them to determine if Morningside was the right fit for them. We are very proud of the class of 2009. Quality students that value the tenets of our mission statement—life-long learning, ethical leadership, and civic responsibility—fit in well at Morningside.”

The college welcomed 382 new full-time students to campus this fall, including 309 first-year students and 73 transfer students.

Overall, full-time enrollment at Morningside increased, with 1066 full-time students enrolled for the 2005 fall semester, as compared with 980 full-time students in 2004.

Enrollment in the college’s master of arts in teaching graduate program increased dramatically, from 167 graduate students last fall to 291 graduate students this fall, an increase of 75 percent over last year. Graduate students are counted as part-time students along with undergraduate students who take fewer than 12 credit hours. Altogether, Morningside’s part-time enrollment increased from 224 students to 374 students.

The class of 2009 reflects an improved academic profile, based upon the following statistics:

• The number of students receiving the college’s Celebration of Excellence President’s Scholarship Award more than doubled. Thirty first-year students received the award this fall, compared with 12 who enrolled for the fall of 2004 and 8 for the fall of 2003. Students must have a minimum ACT score of 27, must be in good standing, and must be ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class to be eligible for the scholarship, which awards up to $10,000 a year and is renewable for 4 years.
• Sixty-four percent hold ACT scores ranging from 19 to 25, compared with 61 percent last year.
• Fully 18 percent of the 298 first-year students who held ranking in their high schools were ranked in the top ten percent of their class, compared with an average of 12 percent over the past 4 years.
• Forty percent of the first-year students who held ranking were in the top 25 percent of their class, the highest percentage in several years.
  

Statistics also support the increased emphasis Morningside’s administration has been putting on a quality residential environment. Each year for the last three years, more than 90 percent of the first-year students have lived on campus.

“We believe that residential life and co-curricular activities are an integral part of a college education,” said Reynders. “We recognize that everything a college student experiences will affect the quality of his education. That’s why we are striving to improve our programs and our facilities.”

The renovation of Roadman Residence Hall, pictured to the right, this past summer was crucial to providing quality housing for the students. The project, representing an investment of $1.35 million, encompassed three of the four floors and provided 90 additional beds for students. Improvements included renovation of the rooms, hallways, and restrooms, installation of air conditioning units in each room, and the construction of a new laundry facility and kitchen and study area.

Other significant fall enrollment statistics include:

• Sixty-five percent of the first-year students are from Iowa, and 21 percent are from Nebraska.
• This fall’s full-time student body represents 25 states and 8 countries, and 14 percent of these students are from Sioux City, while 53 percent are from elsewhere in Iowa.
• Morningside has 26 international students from Albania, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, and Zimbabwe.