Maryville College Admissions eyes record fall enrollment as undergraduate deposits soar 30% above 2022
May 18, 2023
“Build it, and they will come.”
“Field of Dreams” made the quote famous, but Maryville College is making it a reality, with a record number of first-year students, as well as transfers, making undergraduate deposits to secure a spot for the fall.
The Office of Admissions at Maryville College has currently received deposits from 336 first-year students and 36 transfers representing 20 states and six countries — an almost 30% increase over new student deposits in 2022, according to Dr. Alayne Bowman, vice president for Admissions and Financial Aid.
“The interest and excitement in students who want to enroll at Maryville College is proof of what we’ve been building here for more than 200 years: A place that gives them so much more than just a degree,” Bowman said. “From the Great Smoky Mountains just up the highway to the Maryville College Woods right here on campus, we’re a pretty unique small college in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, and every year our graduates go on to amazing, fulfilling careers that also allow them to contribute to the greater good.
“There’s a reason why our founder liked to encourage students to ‘do good on the largest possible scale’ — and at Maryville College, we recognize we have a responsibility not just to prepare students for the workforce, but to prepare them for lives that enrich them in so many other ways than just financially.”
The record number of undergraduate deposits continues a trend announced by Bowman and her team last fall, when admissions applications were trending 30% ahead of previous years. As MC President Dr. Bryan Coker pointed out, Bowman’s Admissions team is the vanguard of an all-campus effort to build on a 204-year legacy of excellence that continues to evolve in new and exciting ways: The abundance of financial aid and scholarship packages that makes MC an affordable place for all; the addition of the $3 million Austin Coleman Piper Memorial Track, the crown jewel of track-and-field competition facilities in the Collegiate Conference of the South; the revival of the beloved and historic Highlander Marching Band; the launch of the new Hospitality and Regional Identity major, aimed at building a new generation of hospitality workers who understand the unique connection between people, comfort and the land; and the recent announcement of the Maryville College Downtown Center, a learning space in the heart of downtown Maryville that will be home to the major as well as an embassy, of sorts, where collaborations between the College and the city will allow both to flourish.
“These are challenging and competitive times for small private colleges, especially when it comes to student enrollment,” Coker said. “At Maryville, we believe that new academic and athletic programs, a renewed focus on our opportune location, as well as strategic marketing and branding are all working to our advantage. I couldn’t be prouder of our Admissions staff’s efforts, as well as all that of those in our campus community involved in student recruitment.”
And the building, Coker added, will continue: Efforts are always underway to add infrastructure, programming, academic expansion and student amenities that will make Maryville College an institution of distinction both regionally and nationally.
“Once our applicants discover everything that Maryville College has to offer, we feel confident in our ability to retain them through the Admissions process,” Bowman said. “It really is a case of building something special here, because we have faith that if we continue to do that, those applications, and those deposits, will become new Scots in the fall.
“Since beginning as Maryville’s 12th president, I have often stated, ‘Keep an eye on Maryville College,’” Coker added. “Three years later, I am proud to say that we are defying the odds in this dynamic and challenging period for small colleges.”