By Jordan Walter ’24, staff writer 

LVC welcomed its largest first-year class with a total of 479 students.  

One of the main reasons why LVC has achieved such a high number of incoming first-year students is from the College’s recruiting efforts through the COVID-19 pandemic. LVC was one of few schools that stayed open through the pandemic and offered campus tours.  

“We kept our business continuity through the pandemic,” Ed Wright, vice president of enrollment management, said. “Students and families were very appreciative of the opportunity to come and see the school.”  

Because of the pandemic, many 2020 high school graduates decided to take a gap-year before starting college. As a result, enrollment was lower last year.   

Support from alumni and alumni-related scholarships may have also contributed to the class size; these scholarships are given to students who are referred to LVC by alumni. 

“We had a lot more referrals this year than we’ve had in previous years,” Wright said. 

Success from LVC’s physical therapy program and the Arnold Health Professions Pavilion have become a great selling point for incoming students as well. 

 “The PT program was at a whole other level than all the other schools that I had visited,” Abby Souder, a first-year physical therapy major, said.  

The school was expecting a class of 500 students, but by the time the fall semester started, the number decreased to 479 because of melt or the natural decrease of student enrollment. 

“I think it’s for a variety of reasons,” Wright said. “The major one is just some anxiety. A lot of students were still second-guessing going to school during a pandemic.” 

In addition, the school welcomed 35 new transfer students at the start of the semester, bringing the total number of students to 514.  

The school prepared faculty and staff for the volume of the class of 2025. The biggest change occurred in class sizes, especially for first-year experience classes. Other than increases in class sizes, LVC was able to accommodate the enrollment increase.  

“It’s not just the admissions office that gets this done,” Wright said. “It’s definitely a collaboration of many units on campus.” 

LVC hopes to continue to welcome as many students as they can with the help of their faculty, staff and athletics.