After last year, no one at Greenville College believed they could squeeze another person into the Dining Commons during the lunch hour. Last year Greenville boasted 874 traditional and undergraduate students. This year's count is 960, according to the official report released by the college Records Office on September 26. Not only did the number of new students increase this year, but the retention rate increased as well.
Retention refers to the number of students returning from the previous year.
That number rose from 567 returning students last fall to 580 this September. Considering the fact that Greenville graduated its largest class ever last spring, this increase in retention was significant. He believes this improved level of contentment among current students contributed greatly to the increase in numbers this year, because their positive attitude is reflected when they interact with prospective students the college is recruiting. Comfort believes other contributing factors include technical and aesthetic improvements to the campus, changes in freshmen orientation, modifications in scheduling and curriculum, and improved relations between prospective students, coaches, and faculty. Maybe most importantly, it brings the college extremely close to an enrollment of 1,000 traditional and undergraduate student.