CSB and SJU report strong 10-day enrollment figures

The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University saw an increase of 1 percent in their total enrollment of students, as of the 10th day of studies Sept. 9. CSB and SJU together enrolled 3,675 first-year to senior students, who hail from 40 states and 21 countries.

CSB's enrollment this fall is 1,936 students. Undergraduate enrollment at SJU totaled 1,739.

New student enrollment totaled 503 at CSB and 461 at SJU for a combined first-year class of 964. The combined new enrollment at CSB and SJU this fall was 4 percent higher than last year's total. The new class comes from 28 states and six countries.

The average ACT scores of new entering CSB students rose by one-half point over last year. The typical new CSB and SJU student earned an ACT score in the top 20 percent of all scores nationally.

The new class is also racially and ethnically diverse. American students of color made up 17 percent of the overall student population, and 19 percent of the new class. International students made up 4 percent of the overall student population and 3 percent of the new entering class.

"We are delighted with both the quality and quantity of our new students this year at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University," said Cal Mosley, vice president for admission and financial aid at CSB and SJU. "We exceeded our goal at both institutions in new student enrollments - including transfer students.

"This year we matriculated students from Alaska to Florida and states in between; increased our representation from Asia, had more students from Minnesota, and have a class of exceptional academic profiles. Our four most represented states are Minnesota, California, Wisconsin and Texas," Mosley added.

The overall retention of continuing students remained very high. Retention from the first year to the second year totaled nearly 87 percent. Since 1997, first-year to second-year retention rates at CSB and SJU typically have averaged between 15 and 20 percent higher than the national averages at public and private colleges locally and nationally.