In March, I shared the good news regarding the growth of Protestant, particularly Evangelical, higher education enrollment over the past decade. In this post, I drill down deeper to discuss where this growth is occurring. What we find is that Protestant higher education institutions, in particular, are finding creative ways to grow amidst a tough market. However, the growth is not occurring in their traditional core area: full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students.
Undergraduate Degree-Seeking Students
If one looks at the ten-year enrollment growth (2014 to 2024) for Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and International Association of Christian Education (IACE) institutions for full-time undergraduate students, the change is basically 0%. To be clear, that is much, much better than the overall decline of -6% undergraduate degree-seeking students in the overall higher education sector for that decade. On average, Evangelical Protestant colleges and universities are bucking the declension trend. In the future, however, finding and growing one’s undergraduate enrollment will remain difficult in an increasingly competitive market (and yes, we should not shy away from recognizing it is a market). So where is growth happening?
Graduate Students
The first major place is with graduate student enrollment. Among CCCU and IACE institutions, graduate student enrollment over the past decade has increased by 36%. These institutions are far outpacing Catholic university graduate student enrollment, which has shrunk by -5.5% the past decade. This difference in graduate student enrollment is likely related to the dramatic decline of Catholics who attend mass nearly every week. Indeed, one study that came out earlier this year, entitled “Sector, Religious Affiliation, and the Risk of Closure Among Postsecondary Institutions,” concluded that “Catholic colleges are disproportionately affected by sector-wide challenges and particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in student demand and resource availability.” Astoundingly, I identified twenty-four Catholic universities whose total graduate student enrollment shrank by over 40% between 2014 and 2024. One of those institutions just announced its closure. More such closures will likely come from this group.
Below are the Catholic and Protestant institutions that enrolled over 99 graduate students in 2014, with the top graduate student growth from 2014 to 2024.
Table 1: Largest Percentage Increase in Graduate Student Enrollment from 2014 to 2024: Catholic Institutions (over 99 Graduate Students in 2014)
| Institution | % Growth |
| Merrimack College | 479% |
| University of Mount Saint Vincent | 364% |
| La Roche University | 204% |
| Avila University | 187% |
| St. Thomas University | 146% |
| Regis College | 105% |
| Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University | 93% |
| St. Bonaventure University | 89% |
| Felican University | 75% |
Table 2: Largest Percentage Increase in Graduate Student Enrollment from 2014 to 2024: Protestant Institutions (99 or more Graduate Students in 2014)
| Institution | % Growth |
| Campbellsville University | 817% |
| High Point University | 526% |
| Lindsey Wilson University | 467% |
| University of the Cumberlands | 371% |
| Colorado Christian University | 278% |
| Columbia International University | 259% |
| Calvin University | 228% |
| Southeastern University | 226% |
| Anderson University (SC) | 209% |
As one can see, the percentage of growth for the top Protestant universities in this area is much higher than that of the Catholic universities.
Overall, one could argue that Mark Noll’s wish for more evangelical graduate programs and students has been fulfilled in the past ten years. Granted, much of this growth is in online or professional graduate credentials, not in advanced research. Still, it is noteworthy.
Non-degree Students (likely largely dual enrollment)
The second area of growth for Christian colleges has been in the area of non-degree students. In fact, there are now almost twenty Catholic and Protestant colleges whose enrollment is over a third non-degree students. For two Catholic institutions, the percentage is almost two-thirds of their total enrollment (see Tables 3 and 4).
Table 3: Percent of 2024 Enrollment that Was Non-Degree Seeking—Catholic Institutions
Table 4: Percent of 2024 Enrollment that Was Non-Degree Seeking—Protestant Institutions
| Institution | % Growth |
| Toccoa Falls University | 42% |
| Missouri Baptist University | 41% |
| Truett McConnell University | 41% |
| McMurray University | 39% |
| Campbellsville University | 37% |
| Concordia University (NE) | 36% |
| LeTourneau University | 35% |
| Southeastern University | 35% |
| University of Northwestern (MN) | 35% |
| Tougaloo College | 33% |
A few of the institutions I noted for their enrollment growth in a previous post are having their primary growth come from this domain. Overall, Protestant non-degree student enrollment has increased by 97% over the past decade. Catholic non-degree student enrollment has increased by 49%. I hypothesize that most of this non-degree student enrollment growth is from dual credit programs associated with high schools. However, I would need to research that matter further to confirm that hypothesis.
Whatever one thinks about the sources of this increased enrollment, it clearly signals creativity among Christian colleges and universities. Protestant institutions, in particular, are finding resourceful ways to attract students.
