Liberty’s Total Enrollment Rises, Defying Predictions

Liberty University saw enrollment numbers skyrocket for the 2020-2021 academic year despite predictions that enrollment at Virginia’s universities could decrease this year due to COVID-19.

For fall 2020, Liberty enrollment grew 10.5% in comparison with numbers from fall 2019. Overall, Virginia public and private institutions saw an enrollment decrease of 1.3%, according to a report released by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia early in October. 

“While this is not something to celebrate, it is far better than the 20% decline predicted by some analysts last spring,” the report said of the decrease. 

The report showed that at four-year, private nonprofit institutions, enrollment grew 3.4%, which analysts say is completely attributable to gains made by LU. Officials say the largest area of growth came from increased enrollment in Liberty’s graduate and doctoral programs, both residentially and online. 

Ron Kennedy is the executive vice president of enrollment management and marketing at Liberty. He said the graduate and Ph.D. programs have made a big impact.

“We are one of the online schools who has the most programs in the graduate and Ph.D. level,” Kennedy said. “At the graduate and Ph.D. level, we are clearly leading in number of programs.”

Liberty’s total enrollment, including all programs both residential and online, has surpassed 95,000 students, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. While the online program continues to boom, Kennedy said students should not expect to see an expansion in the on-campus population.

“Right now, the university is very content with their (on-campus) numbers,” Kennedy said. 

As the coronavirus pandemic continues in the United States, many schools have been forced to conduct some form of hybrid learning online while other schools have been forced to expand into an online-only learning curriculum. 

“These days, pretty much every school has some kind of online undergraduate offering, whether it be full programs or at least courses,” Kennedy said. “And I think given the COVID situation since March, it’s forced a lot of schools that may have been resistant to online [learning] to have to get into an online model.” 

Over the summer, Liberty’s online program saw a milestone of more than 50,000 new students enrolled during the height of the pandemic. As officials continue to monitor the job market, Kennedy said new programs will be added to meet the needs of potential students.

“We started another year off strong here at Liberty University, and we are especially grateful that the early predictions for colleges across the country did not hold true for us,” President Jerry Prevo said in a statement. “This shows that students now, more than ever, are seeking a distinctly Christian education from a world-class university – and Liberty is at the top of the list.”

Madison Hirneisen is a News Reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @MadiHirneisen.