Fall 2017 enrollment continues record trend at CBU

Riverside, Calif. (Sept. 29, 2017)—Fall 2017 enrollment at California Baptist University set another record with 9,941 students, an increase of 8.6 percent over the previous year, President Ronald L. Ellis announced today.

The increase numbered 784 more students than the record 9,157 enrollment in 2016, Ellis said. He noted that the 2017 full time equivalent (FTE) enrollment figure of 9,984 is 902 FTE’s or 9.9 percent greater than the 2016 figure.

Ellis announced the latest record enrollment at the regular fall meeting of the CBU Board of Trustees. He told trustees the triple-digit enrollment growth in 2017 follows three years of 600-plus increases (610, 698, 618) one four-digit upsurge (1,113), and three more triple-digit increases (813, 584, and 616).

“Add the current year increase of 784 and over the last eight years CBU enrollment has grown 5,836 on a base of 4,105 in fall 2009—a 142 percent increase in eight years,” Ellis declared.

During its 67-year history, California Baptist University has seen 17 triple-digit or greater year-over-year increases—all of them occurring since fall 1995.

Since Ellis became president in November 1994, CBU enrollment has grown by 9,133 students. This year’s 9,941 enrollment is 12.3 times greater than the 808 students enrolled in 1994.

“Fall 2017 is another record breaking enrollment increase on top of a sustained twenty-three years of significant increases,” Ellis told the trustees. “It puts CBU ahead of schedule to attain the 12,000 by 2025 goal,” Ellis observed.

Founded in 1950, CBU is a private comprehensive Christian university located in Riverside, Calif. and affiliated with the California Southern Baptist Convention. CBU is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, and the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities.