Report: Campbell sees 30-percent increase in first-time students

Campbell University saw significant improvement in several key enrollment figures over the previous year, according to its official fall enrollment report released this week.

The University announced in August that it was welcoming its largest incoming class of freshmen and transfer students since 2018. This week, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness Maren Hess expanded on those numbers following Census Day, the "snapshot" date when colleges and universities throughout the country record final enrollment and credit hours for the semester. At Campbell, Census Day was Sept. 10, almost a full month after new student move-in.

Some key figures in that report:

• Campbell saw an increase of roughly 200 undergraduates this year over Fall 2025 - roughly a 30-percent increase in new students (from the previous year) and a 7 percent increase in the overall undergraduate enrollment.
• Campbell welcomed nearly 4-percent more incoming transfer undergraduates to both main campus and its Adult & Online Education program.
• Thanks in large part to the Harnett County Tuition Free Guarantee program, Campbell's number of incoming first-time, full-time students from Harnett County increased from 46 last fall to 176 this year - a 280-percent increase.
• Campbell experienced improvement in the retention rate of its first-year students from Fall 2025, with more than three-fourths of those undergraduates returning to Campbell for their second fall this year.
• Residence hall occupancy increased by more than 260 students compared to Fall 2025.
• Campbell's student population includes men and women from each of the 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., and several U.S. territories. After North Carolina, most undergraduates hail from Virginia, Florida and Texas, followed by South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland.

"Capturing a university's enrollment at Census is a process that enables a point-in-time comparison from year to year for an institution," Hess said. "It can be used for enrollment reporting, budgeting, resource allocation and planning, and student development planning, just to name a few facets."

According to Hess, Census enrollment is tied "very strongly" to multiple areas of the Campbell Strategic Plan, adopted by President William M. Downs prior to the completion of his first full year at Campbell last spring. Enrollment Growth is the first of four major objectives of the plan and calls for more investment in academic programs, expanding the marketing of those programs, improving retention rates and improving pathways for incoming transfer students from two-year institutions throughout the state and for Campbell undergraduate students seeking a Campbell graduate program.

"To bring in the largest new student cohort in seven years is a major turnaround for Campbell, and I am grateful for the outstanding work of our admissions team and for the leadership of our Vice President for Enrollment Management, Dean Clark," praised Downs. "The recruitment of college-ready students in North Carolina and beyond has never been more competitive, and Campbell not only halted a recent pattern of decline, but it reversed the trend in impressive fashion.

"Across our campus, people who care about giving the world more Campbell worked together to achieve these results, and this infuses us with a jolt of positive momentum as we build for the future."

Two of Campbell's most successful undergraduate programs reported record enrollment this fall. The School of Engineering took in 156 more applications this year and saw its freshman class grow from 65 in 2025 to 92 in 2026, representing 41-percent growth. The Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing welcomed 57 juniors into the Class of 2028, the largest incoming class in the school's history. And pre-nursing continues to be among the most popular majors for incoming freshmen at Campbell.

"The new academic year brings such hope and excitement, and we are thrilled to welcome such a large incoming class to their home away from home," Vice President for Student Life and Christian Mission the Rev. Dr. Faithe Beam said. "A campus full of students brings such vibrancy from the classroom to the residential living experience, and everything in between. We are working diligently to provide a web of resources and engagement opportunities that will support students and their journey at Campbell."