KANSAS CITY – Amidst the excitement of the start of a new academic year at Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen announced the encouraging news on Sept. 22 that more students have enrolled at the school this Fall Semester than any other in school history.
Student headcount at Midwestern was up 18-percent over the school’s previous top Fall Semester enrollment, which occurred in 2013. According to Allen, the fall headcount stands at 1,297 students. With the school’s online program still having a second term of enrollment beginning on Oct. 13, a potential for even more growth over the previous Fall Semester record is anticipated.
“In today’s challenging environment for higher education, it is not lost on me that a seminary president rarely has the opportunity to announce an increase in enrollment, much less such a significant influx of new students,” Allen said. “In reflecting on the way God has moved so mightily over this past year, it brings great encouragement to me and to the Midwestern Seminary community to announce an enrollment surge of 18-percent for the Fall 2014 Semester.”
Allen also expressed appreciation for the diligent work accomplished by the seminary community as a whole toward recruitment and retention of students. He also thanked Southern Baptists for their support of Midwestern’s mission.
“Everyone within the seminary community has given great effort in this regard, but our Academic and Institutional Relations divisions have exceeded even our highest expectations, and the Lord has chosen to bless it,” he said. “Moreover, I am grateful to Southern Baptists, who are increasingly looking toward Kansas City knowing Midwestern Seminary is training pastors, ministers, and missionaries for the Church.”
Charles Smith, Midwestern Seminary’s vice president for Institutional Relations, said the increase is great news for Christ’s Kingdom.
“It is a humbling thing to see God bring so many new men and women to Midwestern Seminary to be trained for the church,” Smith said. “To be sure, these record numbers represent months of industrious work from our enrollment management teams, but more, they are a reminder to the principalities and powers that rule the age that Christ will build His Church.”
Allen noted that further growth and momentum for the school is expected, especially in light of an increased presence at SBC events, national conferences, regional schools, and in the continued efforts toward developing the Midwestern Training Network. MTN is an initiative that seeks to make accredited theological education as accessible as possible for staff, interns, or laypeople serving in their local churches or in other ministry contexts.
“We are deeply encouraged by the partnerships being developing through the Midwestern Training Network,” Allen said. “Through the efforts of our Church Planting Center, churches and individual students, who intend to study through this program, are joining us on a regular basis.”
Midwestern Seminary’s president also reaffirmed the institution’s dedication to serving the churches and people of the Southern Baptist Convention, saying, “We are grateful to God for his provision and blessing on Midwestern Seminary, and we take this responsibility with utmost urgency and a deep sense of stewardship. We are privileged to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, and we are absolutely committed to serving the churches of the SBC as we strive together to proclaim the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth.”
To apply or enroll in Midwestern Seminary’s Online Department’s Term B, visit mbts.edu/academics/#online_programs, and for more information about partnering through the Midwestern Training Network, go to mbts.edu/trainingnetwork.