LWC Enrollment Reaches Record 2,600 Students

The Jim and Helen Lee Fugitte Science Center, left, and the Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin
Nursing & Counseling Center, right, are two of the major academic buildings
LWC has opened in the last five years.

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Lindsey Wilson College has enrolled a record 2,600 students for the 2011-12 school year, college officials announced today.

The college's record enrollment for 2011-12 is part of a steady five-year enrollment growth at the 108-year-old liberal arts college. Since the 2006-07 school year, LWC's enrollment has grown from 1,792 students to its current level of 2,600 students -- a 31 percent increase.

"This is such wonderful news for our college community and our region," said Lindsey Wilson President William T. Luckey Jr., who has been the college's eighth president since July 1, 1998. "This growth is an affirmation of the Lindsey Wilson mission. More students and their family members have discovered Lindsey Wilson, and they like what they have found."

Lindsey Wilson's enrollment increase has been fueled by a dramatic expansion in the college's academic programs, co-curricular opportunities and extracurricular programs.

This school year, the college opened its latest academic building -- the two-story Dr. Robert and Carol Goodin Nursing & Counseling Center. The college's undergraduate majors have grown to 26, including its first baccalaureate programs in science -- nursing and psychophysiology. Lindsey Wilson has also expanded its number of full-time faculty to a record level. Since the 2007-08 school year, LWC's faculty has expanded by 37 full-time members to its current level of 113, the most in college history.

"We have made a significant investment in expanding our academic programs, classroom buildings and faculty because they are at the heart of a great liberal arts college," Luckey said.

LWC has also expanded undergraduate research opportunities for students, it has increased its investment in service-learning initiatives by more than $500,000, and it has added several intercollegiate sports programs.

Lindsey Wilson has also kept a college education affordable for working-class families. During the 2010-11 school year -- the last school year in which total figures are available -- LWC students received more than $49 million in financial aid, $14.9 million of which came from the college. This year, LWC expects to award more than $15 million institutional aid.

"Even during these challenging economic times for our nation, Lindsey Wilson remains committed to helping every deserving student earn a college education," said LWC Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management Dean Adams. "Few things are more valuable or important in a person's life than to earn a college education, and Lindsey Wilson will continue to help people realize that goal."