Bethel University Community Impact Report

Community Impact Report | 3 BETHEL UNIVERSITY BethelUniversity.edu GROW UPDATE GROW AT ONE YEAR Fundraising for GROW: $9.2 million raised through dollars already received or funds committed. G: GAME ON! • One of every two athletes admitted to Bethel enrolls • Two new sports launched in Fall 2019 – Swimming (29 students) and Bowling (10 students) • $4 million Training Center to be constructed in 2020 R: ROBUST RECRUITING • Largest freshman class in 15 years (Fall 2019) • Second largest graduate program enrollment on record (Fall 2019) • Applications up 10% and admissions up 17% (Fall 2019) • Fully funded Van & Jean Gates Welcome Center supports a 67% increase in prospective student tours in the past five years • Online virtual tour through YouVisit launched in 2019 • Students from 35 countries in 2019, representing every continent on Earth except the poles O: ONLINE BURST • Up 13% in online format graduate programs • Faculty produced four additional online programs, totaling 19 in 2019 • Digital marketing partnership, launched in fall 2018, expanded our reach; we now have online students from 15 states W: WHERE YOUR HEART IS • Donor-funded Field Scholar Program (offering a low- or no-debt path through Bethel) launched with 26 students (Fall 2019) • Twelve students began as computer science majors in fall 2019, using newly renovated, donor- funded facilities including a team lab, classroom and lounge space It’s an exciting time to be a part of what God is doing at Bethel! Our new GROW era (2018-2022) lays out three major projects that will greatly expand our influence by our 75th anniversary in 2022, plus a fourth component customized to individual areas of passion. GROW is a bold, proactive, data-based approach that pulls from our strengths to open many doors for prospective students, because we can’t influence students we don’t have. Unanimously endorsed by Bethel’s Board of Trustees, GROW also includes a pledge in financial involvement from 100 percent of the Board. GROW REPRESENTS: • Game On!: Fresh programs and space for 200 new student-athletes. • Robust Recruiting: Cutting-edge technology, financial aid and recruitment resources to add 300 non-athlete traditional freshmen. • Online Burst: Innovative online undergraduate and graduate academic programs, plus digital marketing designed to add 500 full-time students. • Where Your Heart is: Give toward your individual passion. EVANGELICAL ZEAL GROW is inspired by Acts 16: 9-10, which states, “During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘ come over to Macedonia and help us .’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” GROW is supporting our mission of “building lives of commitment for leadership in the Church and the world—challenging the mind, enlarging the vision and equipping the whole person for lifelong service.”We are proud to populate every imaginable profession with faith-integrated people through our 20,000 alumni living in 64 nations around the world.