News Center

Hendrix Enrollment Up

CONWAY, Ark. (September 18, 2013) – Enrollment for the 2013-2014 academic year at Hendrix College is 1,432 students, up three percent from 1,388 students last year.

Two contributing factors to the increased student enrollment include a record new student class and strong freshman to sophomore retention.

Last month, Hendrix welcomed 455 new students, the largest number in the College’s history. The new student class represents 32 states and 10 foreign countries. Fifty-five percent of new students are from out of state and 45 percent are from Arkansas. With 207 in-state students, the incoming class includes one of the largest groups of Arkansas students in a decade. Also included in the new student numbers are 212 student-athletes, including 52 football players and 11 women lacrosse players – two new non-scholarship NCAA Division III sports debuting this year.

This year’s freshman-to-sophomore retention rate is nearly 88 percent.

“We hit the ground running this year with a record new student class and great student retention,” said Acting President W. Ellis Arnold III. “Our faculty and staff have worked hard to make the start of this year an auspicious beginning, and we look forward to our new students enriching the campus during their undergraduate experience.”

Last week, Hendrix was named one of the country’s top “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges for the sixth consecutive year by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is listed at #2 among national liberal arts colleges that have recently made promising and innovative changes in the areas of academic life, faculty, student life, campus and facilities. The 2014 U.S. News Best Colleges guide also lists Hendrix as #11 in an elite group of liberal arts colleges that demonstrate “A Strong Commitment to Teaching.” Hendrix is the only institution in Arkansas to appear in the 2014 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking of the top 100 private national liberal arts colleges.

Other recent Hendrix recognition news includes:

  • Hendrix is listed among the top liberal arts colleges “based on their contribution to the public good” by Washington Monthly.
  • Hendrix is among the country’s top 100 most financially fit private colleges, according to a list published this month by Forbes magazine and is ranked #158 on the magazine’s list of America’s Top Colleges and #115 in a list of private colleges in the nation.
  • Hendrix is among the top colleges profiled in The Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges (2014).
  • Hendrix was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 based on academic ratings, price category, and quality of student life on campus.

Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the sixth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, and the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.