The number of new students enrolled at Hesston College increased this fall.

Registrar Jeanne Billings reported that 219 new North American students are enrolled, plus 21 new international students, for a total of 240. That’s an increase of 20 students (or nine percent) compared to last fall’s total of 220.

“I’m pleased that the number of new students is up,” said Joel Kauffman, vice president of Admissions, “because at many private Christian colleges across the nation, new student counts are down.”

Kauffman attributed the increase in part to his admissions counselors. “We have a great admissions team. Our team did a good job this past year. I’m also grateful that our faculty and staff are willing to play an important part in the recruiting process.”

According to Kauffman, this year’s freshman class has 20 President’s Scholars, a gain of seven over last fall. President’s Scholars completed high school with a GPA of 3.6 or higher (on a 4.0 scale) and had either an ACT score of 28 or higher, or an SAT score of 1,850 or higher.

Total enrollment at Hesston College this fall is 425 students. The number of Mennonite students is 52 percent of the student population. Twelve percent of the student population are North American minorities, while nine percent are international students who come from 11 different countries. The North American students this fall originate from 26 states.