Introducing New Students at Bethel This Fall

Here are some interesting facts about new undergraduate students at Bethel University from the Office of Admissions.

The numbers:

• 660 students make up the Class of 2016 and more than 140 students have transferred to Bethel this fall, making the total new students on campus around 800.
• These 800 students were chosen out of 3,300 applicants – a new record for Bethel.
• About 11% of the incoming class are students of color.
• Students come from 30 states and several countries, including Canada, Kenya, Nigeria, and China.
• The most common denomination represented is Converge Worldwide (14%) with another 14% from independent, non-denominational, or inter-denominational churches.
• 77% of students are from Minnesota.

The academics:

• “Undecided” is the most popular major selected by more than 15% of the class, followed by business/economics, nursing, biology, elementary education, psychology, and engineering/physics.
• There are 35 valedictorians and salutatorians in the freshman class.
• Approximately 75% of incoming students received academic scholarships.

The fun facts:

• Johnson is the most popular last name among incoming students at 3%.
• Rachel is the most popular female first name (18) and Matthew is the most popular male first name (16).
• The new student population is 59% female and 41% male, continuing the trend of more females than males at Bethel that began in 1965.
• 20% of the incoming student class plans to participate in athletics.
• Incoming students engaged the world on missions trips abroad in Austria, Belize, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Tanzania, and in the United States to the Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, and the inner cities of Chicago, Los Angeles,  Minneapolis, New York, and Philadelphia.