Collection › LCMS Convention Workbook (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1975 · 51st Convention › Page 290
LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1975, Page 290

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

290 HIGHER EDUCATION
SELECTED LC-MS POPULATION DATA
29723
CHURCH WORK STUDENTS
BY STATES
ENROLL] MEMBER- ELEM, STU,
ANN MILWAU- RIVER OTHER MENT SHIP °*. /; Of TOTAL
STATE ARBOR KEE FOREST SEWARD ST, PAUL COLLEGES TOTAL of TOTAL LC-MS
LC-éS

Iilineis 26 2 2g st 555 105 28 34 510 17.6 12.6 i8.1
Michigan 229 : 26 2 lls 109 10 6 497 ic.& 10.2 15.7
wisconsin 5 - 34 3. 123 9g 57 4 =55 3.8 9.4 11.5
Minnesota 4 i it 2 1¢ 57 227 6 318 6.4% 8.2 5.-
Califernia l 2 25 2 ll 103 6 18 158 2.= 6.2 6.4
Missouri 5 - 18 68 98 5 76 270 3.8 5.5 8.2
New York 7 102 15 2 53 16 2 es 198 ~.3 +47 2.9
Towa - - 6 2 1C 95 32 24 169 207 4.6 2.1
Indiana 29 - -3 2 60 51 3 4 1-2 2 4.2 7.9
Nebraska t - 7 2 2 23. l 24 271 3.9 4.0 4.1
Texas - - 12 18 24 2 45 161 2.2 3.9 4.3
Onio 5 5 Li 2 32 26 3 3 109 24 3.6 2.5
332 Lid 229 181 1058 1011 376 248 2548 70.9 77.3 89.2
Other 27 12) 209 16 120 258 46 309 1066 23.1 22.7 10.38
TOTAL 359 234 538 197 1178 1269 422 617 614 100.0 {100.6 100.0

Not only have the past 12 years reflected a rapid rise fol-
lowed by a decline of college enrollments, but the closing of
« high school programs and an accompanying enrollment de-
cline of more than 900 high school students has been experi-
enced. The junior college enrollment in total is larger than it
was 12 years ago, yet the percentage of general education stu-
dents has risen rather markedly during this period. The 4-year
college enrollment, exclusive of the addition of Bronxville, is
continuing to decline from the peak years but in total is still
slightly higher than 12 years ago. Total full-time enrollment of
all synodical schools, including the expansion of Bronxville to
4 years and eliminating the junior college in Oakland, is 775
students below the total 12 years earlier and 2,162 students
below the peak enrollment of 1967.

Data on Student Composition—A Survey

A recent student survey indicates that a large number of
our college students beyond the sophomore year have attended
more than one LCMS institution. Though this would be ex-
pected, it is interesting that only 28 percent of the total enroll-
ment at Seward, 19 percent at River Forest, and 14 percent at
St. Paul, Minn., have attended another synodical institution.
At Fort Wayne nearly 9 percent of the enrollment entered the
institution as 3d-year students without having gone to another
synodical college.

In an analysis of the number of years junior college students
were in attendance at Lutheran elementary schools, the per-
centage who had never attended a Lutheran elementary school
varied from 40 percent at Concordia, Mo., to 98 percent at
Edmonton. A direct correlation exists between this and the
number of non-Lutherans attending the junior colleges. When
comparing only Missouri Synod Lutheran students nearly 46
percent of the junior college students had never attended a
Lutheran elementary school while 44 percent had attended
5 years or more.

The survey indicated that the percentage of students who
had attended Lutheran elementary school 5 or more years
was 64 percent at River Forest, 55 percent at Seward, 2312 per-
cent at Fort Wayne, 20 percent at St. Louis, and 30 percent at
Springfield. The percentage of students who had never at-
tended a Lutheran elementary school was 22 percent at River
Forest, 34 percent at Seward, 59 percent at Fort Wayne, 50
percent at St. Louis. and 60 percent at Springfield. The data
very strongly indicate that the frequency of a Lutheran school
background for students preparing for pastoral training at all

levels in the system is far less than for those in the teacher edu-
cation programs.

Approximately one fourth of the Missouri Synod students
are graduates of Lutheran high schools, community or synod-
ically operated, and a fairly substantial percentage of non-Lu-
therans attending our colleges have attended Lutheran high
schools. Again the data Suggest that the proximity of a Lutheran
high school plays a very important role in this factor. For ex-
ample, Concordia, Mo., has approximately 45 percent of its
students with Lutheran high school backgrounds, while Austin
and Winfield have less than 10 percent. At the 4-year colleges
nearly 30 percent of the enrollment at River Forest, 27 percent
at Seward and Fort Wayne, 11 percent at Bronxville, and 6 per-
cent at St. Paul have graduated from Lutheran high schools.
The seminary enrollment found a third of the students at St.
Louis and a fifth at Springfield indicating a Lutheran high school
background.

Registration for a particular college program, according to
the survey, was related to student background as follows:
(1) the preministerial enrollment found 61 percent without a
Lutheran elementary school background, 26 percent attended
5 or more years, and 26 percent graduated from a Lutheran
high school: (2) the Lutheran teacher education enrollment
found 32 percent without a Lutheran elementary school back-
ground, 55 percent attended 5 or more years, and 29 percent
graduated from a Lutheran high school: (3) the general edu-
cation program found 87 percent without a Lutheran school
background, but only 51 percent are LCMS members, 10 per-
cent are other Lutheran, and 39 percent are from other reli-
gious affiliations.

In response to a question as to whether either of the parents
was educated to be full-time church workers, it was found that
the vast majority have no church work family background.
The percentage at Concordia, Mo., and Seward having such
family background was 25 percent, at Springfield 23 percent,
and down to a low of 9 percent at Fort Wayne. This situation
is a cause for concern because church worker families hereto-
fore have been a significant source of students.

A number of states offer tax-supported tuition grants for
students to attend private colleges. The survey results found
that 65 percent of the students enrolled at Milwaukee were
receiving this type of aid, 50 percent at Bronxville, 21 percent
at Ann Arbor. All states having a synodical college, except
Nebraska, offer some form of tuition aid, but criteria by which
these funds are allocated, including parental income, residency,