Freshman Class Grows 45% After Cal Lutheran Recruiting Push

A major push in out-of-state recruiting by Cal Lutheran University has paid off with a 45% increase in the number of committed freshmen over last year’s enrollment.

With six weeks remaining before the school year begins, 330 freshman have paid the deposits required for admission--102 more students than last year’s entering freshman class.

“We could have more as we get closer to the actual starting date of full classes,” said Cal Lutheran spokeswoman Lynda Fulford. Freshmen are slated to move into their dorms Aug. 30.

The enrollment boom comes after Cal Lutheran officials hired two additional staff members to attend college fairs and visit high schools in other states.

Maintaining personal contact with applicants is one of the school’s more effective tools in persuading prospects to choose Cal Lutheran, said Marc Meredith, director of undergraduate admissions and one of the school’s seven recruitment counselors.

“By the time a student sets foot on campus this fall, he’ll have had several months of communication with a counselor--on the phone, in person [and with] personal notes,” he said.

Eric Stoffregen, 18, of Portland, Ore., said he had narrowed his choices to Oregon State University and Cal Lutheran, choosing the latter because of the personal attention he received.

“At CLU, I was on a first-name basis with [admissions counselor] Cody Hartley,” Stoffregen said. “It was the personal touch.”

Cal Lutheran also makes good use of its current students, and its alumni--perhaps its most faithful boosters--to help attract students.

Brianne Gruszka, 18, of Henderson, Nev., said she decided on Cal Lutheran after touring the campus during an open house last fall and again in the spring.

During her campus visits, she chatted with students and later had several follow-up discussions with an alum living in Las Vegas who was available to answer her questions.

The surge in freshman enrollment will help boost the school’s overall population from 1,509 undergraduates last year to an estimated 1,600 undergraduates this fall.

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Graduate students are also on the increase, rising from 948 students last year to a projected 1,000 graduate students enrolling next month.

Campus officials do not anticipate a housing shortage this fall, but they expect that additional space will be needed in future years.

This fall’s freshman class will be housed in the 12 on-campus dormitories, which have a capacity of about 875 students, Meredith said.

“We’re going to be very full and cozy, but we’re not going to be over full,” Meredith said. “I’m not going to have people sleeping in Kingsmen Park” on campus.

Many undergraduates, especially seniors, and all graduate students live off campus. So do about 300 people enrolled in Cal Lutheran’s Adult Degree Evening Programs. Those in the adult education program are counted among the 1,600 undergraduates.

Cal Lutheran, which historically has drawn students from the West, is expanding its reach geographically in a quest for more admissions.

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Although recruiters concentrate heavily on Arizona, Nevada and Washington, they also make annual treks to Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota and Wisconsin because of their large Lutheran populations.

The school will boast students from at least 20 states this fall, up from 15 last school year, Meredith said.

Fulford said 33% of the incoming freshman class are out-of-state residents, up from 20% to 24% in past years.

“We’re really happy about it,” she said. “It’s a real boost.”