For small colleges a mixed year for admissions
Bluffton University’s recent enrollment success was featured in “Inside Higher Edu,” a major international higher education publication.
The story titled “For small private colleges, a mixed year in admissions,” focused a major portion of the article on Bluffton.
Robin Bowlus, vice president of advancement and enrollment management, attributed some of the college's success to its being open for the entire year that just completed. "Students and parents had expectations," she said.
And the college resumed campus tours – again, with lots of safety measures – in May 2020, before most colleges did so.
The college's message is the Bluffton Blueprint, a general education program that students take in all four years of their education.
• The first year, the students are in a course to ask themselves, "Who am I?"
• The second year they ask, "Who am I in a community?"
• The third year they ask, "Who am I in the world?"
• And the fourth year, they ask, "What then shall we do?"
The article states that Bluffton enrolled only 173 freshmen in the fall of 2018 (the goal had been 200), 231 in 2019 and 195 in 2020 (with the pandemic in full force at the time students were making decisions).
This fall, 277 freshmen have committed. If the number stays over 266, it will be a record class.
Stories Posted This Week
Saturday, August 30, 2025
Friday, August 29, 2025
- Community Dog Park officially opens as memorial to Katrina Riepenhoff
- Obituary for Ian Christopher Shriner
- 2025 Blaze of Lights theme is "Home for the Holidays"
- Pirate volleyball win vs. Defiance Ayersville
- Highway Patrol focused on removing impaired drivers from the road
- Beaverdam Bunch 4-H results at 2025 Allen County Fair
- Porchfest brings live music to Bluffton neighborhoods
Thursday, August 28, 2025
- Pirate girls golf close 2nd at tri; Bauman 1st
- Pirate boys golf 2nd in NWC quad-match
- Pirate girls tennis loss at Wapak
- "You Made It" Forum welcomes Class of 2029
- 2nd annual Bluffton Porchfest celebrates live music
- Learn to play bridge at the Senior Center
- Blanchard Valley Health System enhances “Find-a-Doc”
- Taste of Bluffton serves as mixer for students and residents
- Heart to Heart: New Blood Pressure Guidelines
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
- Mayberry Rd. closure Aug. 27-28
- Janet M. Leonard was a teacher
- Pirates boys golf wins NWC tri
- Inside Innovations brings established design studio to Bluffton
- Walking thru Autumn hikes include Motter Park
- Colloquium Presentation: Emotional Education in 18th Century Germany
- Student to Share Lessons from Study Abroad Experience in Mexico