Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1975 · 51st Convention › Page 289
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 289

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

HIGHER EDUCATION 289

River Forest, which would be considerably closer. It appears
that the enrollment of these students reflects the backgrounds
and desires of the individual students. It should be noted that
with the opening of Concordia, Bronxville, to 4 years in Sep-
tember 1974 the number of New York students attending River
Forest and Seward will undoubtedly decline to a very small
number. In reviewing the data it must be remembered that some
of the institutions offer only 2 years of collegiate work, and
therefore the shifting of students from those states is expected.
The data additionally indicate the percent of total church work
student enrollment coming from a particular state as compared
with the percentage of the total Missouri Synod membership
in that state. These data strongly suggest that the absence of the
synodical college, such as in the case of California, Iowa, and
Ohio, is reflected in the enrollment of church work students

FALL 1973 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT REPORTS

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION

OF

FULL-TIME STUDENTS

Non Lutheran Other Lutheran LC-MS TOTAL
No. th No. 4. District Q) Totals
. No. vA
JUNIOR COLLEGE
Ann Arbor 32 6.7 20 4.2 425 89.1 477
Austin 89 38.2 8 7.7 126 54.1 233
Concordia 4 3.4 - --- 113 96.6 117
Edmonton 30 73.2 1 2.4 10 24.4 4l
Milwaukee 36 12.4 19 6.5 236 81.1 291
Pertland 31 14.6 19 8.9 162 76.4 212
Selma 28 57.1 -- -- 21 42.9 49
Winfield 34 12.3 1 -- 241 87.3 276
Total 284 16.7 78 4.6 1334 78.7 1696
SENIOR COLLEGE
Bronxville 95 20.2 33 7.0 342 72.8 470
River Forest 120 9.6 47 3.8 1082 86.6 1247
St. Paul 93 14.5 49 7.6 500 77.9 642
Seward 14 1.1 16 1.3 1223 97.6 1253
Sub-Total 322 8.9 145 4.0 925 25.6 3145 87.1 3612
Fort Wayne -- -- 4 1.2 20 5.8 341 98.8 345
Total 322 8.1 149 3.8 945 23.9 3486 88.1 3957
Grand Total 606 10.7 227 4,0 1728 30.61 4820 85.3 5653

*3 year; 4 year in 1974-1975
@ District in which the college is located

compared with the Missouri Synod membership. Also indi-
cated is the percentage of the LCMS elementary students, by
state. A comparison of elementary students to church worker
enrollment suggests that the lack of a 4-year college program
affects the church worker enrollment from that area as com-
pared with the percentage of LCMS elementary students, par-
ticularly in the case of Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Mis-
souri, and Indiana.

System Changes vs. Enrollment Trends

As the synodical high schools were phased out, a number
of our institutions began to take on new characteristics. As
indicated previously, the phase-out began in 1967 and ended
in 1973. Probably the institution most affected by the phase-out
of the high school department would be Milwaukee. In 1963
Milwaukee had 337 high school students and a total enrollment
of 503. By 1966 the high school enrollment had dropped to 208,
but the total enrollment had increased to 642. In 1974 the total
enrollment of 294 full-time students is less than the high school
enrollment was in 1963. Milwaukee was rather late in developing

coeducational programs, which is still reflected in its enrollment.
(A sizable parttime enrollment is not included in these data.)

Concordia, Bronxville, had a high school enrollment of 162
and a total enrollment of 487 in 1963, which was 6 more than the
4-year college enrollment in 1974. The gradual increase in col-
lege enrollment at Austin took up the slack of the decline in
the high school enrollment from 1963 to 1966. It has only been
in the last year, with a rapid rise in the number of general-
education students, that the enrollment in Austin has been
substantially higher than the combined high school and college
enrollment. The high school enrollment at Concordia, Mo.,
though it has been up and down, is virtually the same in 1974
as it was in 1963. However, the college enrollment has 42 fewer
students in 1974 than in 1963 and 160 fewer students than at-
tended college during the peak year of 1966. The other three
synodical high schools, Edmonton, Portland, and Selma, cur-
rently have enrollments substantially in excess of the 1963 level.
However, it should be noted that the vocational preference of
these students is largely general education with the enrollment
largely reflective of the local area.