Each year, Goshen College reports on the enrollment of students for the academic year, and the report for the 2023-24 school year was released last Wednesday.

Last year, GC had an overall enrollment of 768 students across all categories, but that number has risen by 56 people to 824 this year, according to the GC Fact Book collected by the Institutional Research Office. The freshman cohort this year has 156 students — nine fewer than last year’s class. 55% of the class lives in on-campus housing. 

The category that saw the most growth was in the number of adult or continuing graduate students, increasing from 18 students last year to 78 this year. For traditional undergraduate students, there are 695 students, which is four fewer than the 699 total from last year.

The retention rate that was reported for this year was 78% from the sophomore class, which is down 2% from last year.

For the makeup of the first year class, President Rebecca Stoltzfus shared her celebrations: “We continue to enroll a student body that is diverse, and a majority who collectively identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian and/or international — from 24 countries!” 

“This year’s first-years include more Black students and more international students than last year.”

With this in mind, the following is a comparison between GC and other colleges and universities in the Crossroads League Conference. 

Grace College of Winona Lake welcomed 1,364 new students to their programs this year, according to a recent press release. In total, Grace has 2,271 students, with 465 students in this year’s freshman class. This number ties their freshman class from the 2022-23 school year down to the person. 

At Taylor University of Upland, the freshman cohort included 565 students, which was the largest in the school’s history, according to a recent press release. Additionally, the retention rate that is projected for this year’s sophomore class is 91%.

For the University of Saint Francis, a news release stated that they welcomed 650 new students to their campuses, with a total of 1,900 students at the university.

At Bethel University of Mishawaka, a news release stated that their freshman cohort includes 392 students, and their student body across undergraduate programs is 2,312. 35% of freshman students have an immediate family member who attended Bethel.

With all of this information to compare, GC sees confidence in the face of the new year: “Our optimism for the coming year is founded on a great admissions department,” Stoltzfus said, “with significantly stronger staffing than in recent years, and a strong enrollment plan with clear linkages between academics and athletics.”