With 205 new students from this year’s incoming first-year class and an additional 41 transfer students, the college marked an enrollment of 743 traditional undergraduate students and 849 total students this academic year.

This year’s incoming first-year class had 17 more students than the previous year, which contributed to the increase of 25 students in the total traditional undergraduate enrollment since last year.

Heather Weeks, director of admissions, said, “This year, we were blessed to enter the admissions cycle with the same team we had last year.”

“Having experienced, trained counselors who understand the important peaks of the admissions cycle and know their territories and relationships was priceless. That continuity gave us a strong foundation for the year,” Weeks said about this year’s admissions process.

Steve Wolma, vice president for enrollment management, shared of the 205 incoming first-year students, 57% are residential and 43% are commuters.

Weeks said that one of the challenges the admissions team faced in regard to enrollment were international student visa complications. The number of international students decreasing from 10% to 9% of the total student body.

There was an increase in the number of Hispanic students, from 28% of last year’s first-year cohort to 35% this year, the highest it has been in the past four years.

There was a drop in the number of students self-identifying as Mennonite, from 17% of the 2025-26 first-year group to just 12% this year.

Adela Hufford, the director of orientation, transition and retention, shared that 61 of the original 188 members of the 2025-26 first-year cohort did not return this fall. This number only pertains to first-time, full-time students from the fall cohort who re-enrolled for the following fall semester.

Out of the first-years who did not return this fall, 28% were due to institutional fit, the most common reason for leaving GC.

“Institutional fit isn’t as straightforward as some of the other exit reasons,” Hufford said. “This includes students who, for one or more reasons, did not feel a connection to the college or the connection wasn’t strong enough to justify staying.”

Some of the other reasons for exiting were due to financial difficulty, academic disqualification, leave of absence, medical, health or family concerns and academic difficulty, among a few others.

“Ultimately, there isn’t one singular reason why students leave. My conversations with students confirm it’s often more complex than a single reason. I have a unique role in holding their stories,” Hufford said.

This year’s incoming first-year class deposited earlier than normal. There were 207 deposits with 205 students making it to Drop/Add. All but two students arrived for this year’s Leaf Launch, GC’s on campus welcome weekend for new students.

“I would attribute this great success to our experienced admissions staff and the hard work and collaboration of Student Financial Services,” Weeks said.

“We are very excited about this incoming cohort and the strong relationships our team has built with these students and their families.”