Jarvis Christian College’s first year enrollment is up 90 percent from 2017, the college announced today.

                Jarvis has 359 first-year students, up from 189 students last year. Overall enrollment at Jarvis is up 4.6 percent with 952 students, compared to 909 last fall. Those numbers are expected to increase when an adult education cohort begins in October, said Eric Stringfellow, Jarvis’ director of communications. Stringfellow said the current freshman class is the largest ever for Jarvis.

                The 2018 numbers represent a 51 percent increase in enrollment since 2013, when Jarvis enrolled 633 students. Dr. Lester C. Newman was named Jarvis president in 2012.

                To what do we attribute our growth?

                “We do the traditional marketing – broadcast, digital and some print coupled with recruiting visits to schools throughout the region. We also think our programs sell themselves. Our Adult Education Program, which includes a site in Dallas, offers classes in business, criminal justice and religion,” Stringfellow said. “The program started with 13 students in 2014 and now has 121 enrolled. Our students are involved in cutting-edge research, including cancer research and diabetes awareness.

                “We believe our brand is strong among those who have been associated with Jarvis and promote us through word-of-mouth to family members and others. When Janie Lee Luftkin was moving her granddaughter, Stacia Foy, into her dormitory this summer, Luftkin pointed out that she had two sisters, a daughter and two nieces who graduated from Jarvis,” Stringfellow said.

                Jarvis offered Shawna Turner a scholarship in 1984. She turned it down and went on to a 32-year career in law enforcement with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department. When Turner heard Jarvis was offering adult education in Dallas, she took advantage. “When I heard the ad, I said I was going to go ahead and finish with Jarvis,” Turner said.

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