Photo Courtesy of Covenant College Marketing
Covenant has limited the number of incoming freshmen to 340 students. This number is slightly smaller than the most recent freshman class of '29, it is 140 students larger than the graduating Senior Class of ’26. This continues the positive enrollment trend we have seen in the past few years.
However, even if a thousand students wanted to come to Covenant next year, the college can only admit so many. Students will be admitted until the 340-person cap is reached; afterwards, they will be added to a waitlist. The issue is simply a matter of space—we do not have that many beds on campus.
Because current Covenant students have housing priority, the tentative limit is not fixed. The number of juniors and seniors who decide to stay in the dorms—or move off campus—plays a huge role in how many incoming freshmen Covenant can accommodate, and housing registration doesn't open until mid-March.
Admissions counselor Mary Streets said that the "projection of interest" is about "60% higher" this year, meaning that the current number of students who have committed and paid their deposit is significantly higher than it was at the same time last year.
"It is encouraging to see that interest level," Streets said, "After mid-February, after all the financial aid awards go out, we'll really see who's coming or who just paid [the deposit] ahead of time hoping for early housing. There's a lot that factors in."
Of course, not everyone who commits to a college follows through to matriculation. Admissions refers to this as "melt."
"In the summer, we want to make space for 10-20 melts," Streets said. "This past year, that 350, we got all the students off the waitlist because we knew melt was going to happen in the summer."
However, it is noteworthy that Covenant's yield—especially from campus visits and scholarship weekends—is unusually high compared to other colleges. People who get a taste of our community seem to want to get more of it.
The question now is: with so much interest in what Covenant has to offer, how will we adapt? The conversation is open. Options seem to be building a new dorm building, extending off-campus living options to Juniors, and raising the academic standards for entrance.
"There's going to be growing pains," Streets said, as the campus adjusts.
Colleges are liminal institutions. Their existence depends on transience. As Streets' fellow Admissions counselor, Jonah Hitchcock, puts it, "If we didn't have students coming every year… Covenant would cease to exist."
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Covenant College Marketing.