Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Over half of West Virginia Wesleyan’s new students will bring a high school grade point average of 3.5 or above when the College officially welcomes them to Orientation on Saturday.  Wesleyan is anticipating over 400 new students for the fourth consecutive year.  The freshmen class has a grade point average of 3.4.

While the nation has struggled with economic uncertainty, Wesleyan will see an increase in its enrollment again this fall.  Over 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students are expected to begin classes on August 23.

Over 55 percent of the new students are from West Virginia with Upshur, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis, Wood, Nicholas, and Greenbrier Counties leading the way.  The largest cohort of out of state students is from Pennsylvania and Maryland, followed by Ohio and Virginia.

Wesleyan, which annually has the largest number of West Virginia PROMISE Scholars of any private school in the state, is expected to add over 130 to its total with the new group of students.  “We believe the impressive academic credentials of this class are due to many factors,” said John Waltz, director of admission.  “Wesleyan has enjoyed a near 100 percent graduate and professional school placement rate for many years.  In addition, seven students have been chosen as United States Department of State Fulbright Scholars in the past four years and we finished fifth in the nation among NCAA Division II schools in the number of Academic Achievement Award winners.  Our students have also earned distinctive honors in regional and national computer science and mathematics and business competitions.”

Campus leaders also believe the growth in enrollment is a result of Wesleyan’s campus additions and renovations.  During the past two years, the school has opened the $7.2 million Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts and the $8.9 million David E. Reemsnyder Research Center.  The College also re-opened Fleming Residence Hall after a $5 million renovation and plans to break ground for a new residence hall in October.

While the most popular major choice for the new group of students is “undecided”, this year’s entering class appears to have a particularly strong interest in health-science and science-related fields.  Biology, exercise science/athletic training, and nursing are the three most popular majors, followed by education, business, criminal justice, and engineering/physics.

In addition to the outstanding impressive academic credentials, the new group of students also includes 159 Federal Pell Grant recipients, a strong indicator that Wesleyan is financially accessible to all socioeconomic groups.  The school was recently one of 284 colleges and universities in the country to be highlighted for its outreach efforts, financial aid opportunities, and student support services.

“Wesleyan provides scholarships that recognize excellence in the classroom, the arts, athletics, leadership, and service,” added Waltz.  “We also work carefully with our financial aid office to make every effort to make Wesleyan affordable to our students and families.”

Wesleyan offers 43 majors and 36 minors and graduate programs in athletic training, business administration, education, English writing, and nursing.  Wesleyan was again recently selected as a Best Southeastern College by The Princeton Review and is one of 115 colleges and universities in the country to be named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic-engagement.