Focus on affordability, access nets most well-rounded class in college’s history
Bellarmine University is on target to welcome the most diverse first-year class in its history this fall, as well as its largest entering class since 2019, with campus residence halls projected to be at full capacity. This is alongside strong enrollment
performance in the university’s transfer, graduate and second-degree programs.
The Fall 2023 incoming class will be the first group of first-year undergraduate students to arrive since the university announced
Bellarmine Forward, a plan that positions the university as the region’s premier institution for well-rounded, career-ready
graduates who benefit from a liberal arts education.
The entering class is projected to show gains in three key areas that reflect Bellarmine’s mission to make a high-quality, transformative education accessible to all qualified students:
- First-generation students – those who will be the first generation of their family to earn a bachelor’s degree – will increase from 35% of the Fall 2022 cohort to 41% in Fall 2023
- Pell Grant-eligible students – those who demonstrate high financial need in order to make their college education possible -- will increase from 33% of the Fall 2022 cohort to 43% in Fall 2023
- Students of color will grow from 26% of the Fall 2022 cohort to a record 31% in Fall 2023
Among transfer, graduate and post-baccalaureate programs that start this summer or fall:
- The Doctor of Physical Therapy program achieved its full capacity of 72 new students.
- The university’s first-ever Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesia cohort is projected to start with 18 students.
- The Accelerated Software and Data Engineering second-degree program exceeded its enrollment goal and has 16 entering students -- the largest cohort to date -- as the program begins its third year.
- Transfer enrollment is projected to have one of its largest years on record. Transfer pathway programs with Kentucky Community and Technical College System and Ivy Technical College of Indiana account for 35% of the entering transfer cohort.
“This uptick in enrollment tells me that students are continuing to search for a values-based, holistic education in the liberal arts that prepares them for meaningful lives and rewarding careers,” said Dr. Susan M. Donovan, Bellarmine’s
president. “As college admissions becomes more competitive, the colleges that will thrive are those who can clearly articulate the value of the education they offer. Our students arrive with a mission to find their purpose so that they can make
an impact on their community through whatever path they choose.”
At Bellarmine, all undergraduate students take a common core that includes courses in arts, English composition, history, literature, math, natural sciences, philosophy, social sciences and theology. These courses give students a common intellectual experience
that helps them stand out to employers after graduation, with 98% of students landing a job or continuing their education within six months of graduating.
Affordability and Access
Bellarmine is committed to making a top-notch, Catholic liberal arts education accessible to students of all backgrounds, and has increasingly focused on enrollment initiatives that achieve this mission-centered goal. Donovan noted that this focus contributed
to the projected year- over-year enrollment growth.
Last fall, Bellarmine launched a new Hope Kentucky Scholars Program, which covers 100% of tuition and fees – including textbooks – for traditional first-year and transfer students who are Pell-eligible and graduated from a public, private
or home school in Kentucky, beginning in Fall 2023. When compared to the number of entering students from Fall 2022 who would have been eligible for the program, the number of Hope Kentucky Scholars starting in Fall 2023 has increased by approximately
70%.
Bellarmine's Public Price Promise, launched in 2020 and one of only a few such initiatives in the country, continues to attract top talent from across the nation by matching the direct cost of attending the public flagship university in a qualifying student’s
home state. This fall, approximately 60% of first-year students will be attending based on the Public Price Promise.
Bellarmine is offering the Bridge to BU program for the first time this summer. This mission- driven, four-week residential summer program aligns with Bellarmine’s core values of intrinsic dignity, academic excellence, social responsibility and
hospitality. Incoming first-year students can earn seven college credits in courses that position them for personal, academic and career success. More than 30 students are taking advantage of this opportunity at no cost, thanks to generous grant funding
from the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education and the CE&S Foundation.
“A lot of people have been talking about how middle and high school students were set back by the unprecedented educational disruptions that took place because of the pandemic,” said Dr. Jon Blandford, a Bellarmine faculty member who is directing
the Bridge to BU Program. “We are actually doing something about it. I am very proud of the summer program we have created, which will equip these students to flourish here at Bellarmine. Bridge to BU is going to be a game-changer for these
students by closing opportunity gaps and increasing access to a high- impact, transformative college education.”
Responding to Enrollment Trends
Last year, Bellarmine saw its number of new undergraduate students from Kentucky decline. To address that shift, Bellarmine increased its investment in academically qualified students from Kentucky. In addition to launching the Hope Kentucky Scholars
Program and expanding Public Price Promise eligibility for Kentucky students, Bellarmine significantly increased a scholarship that is offered exclusively to new students who participated in the Kentucky Governor’s Scholar Program. As a result,
the number of Governor’s Scholars students who have committed to Bellarmine is up nearly 50% compared with those who arrived at the university last fall.
Last year, the university made a bold move to bring key enrollment functions such as student marketing and financial aid optimization in house. Traditionally, colleges outsource these services, which are designed to attract high-affinity, mission-aligned
college-bound students. This shift afforded the enrollment team the ability to connect and engage with students in more meaningful ways.
“In my more than two decades of service in higher education, I would have never imagined making such an audacious move as we did this cycle,” said Dr. Michael Marshall, Bellarmine’s Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing and Communication.
“When you have an amazingly talented and innovative enrollment team like we do at Bellarmine, however, your risk tolerance increases exponentially, and you are willing to trust the process.”