Admissions launches early enrollment, scholarship initiatives for future students

Initiatives for freshman and transfer students who enroll early and significant tweaks to the J.A. Campbell Scholarship are just a few of the changes in Campbell University's Admissions office since the arrival of new Vice President for Enrollment Management Dean Clark.

Clark comes in with over 20 years of progressive enrollment management experience at three private faith-based schools prior to his new role at Campbell, which began in July. As one of his first initiatives to drive enrollment, his office has launched the Early Campbell Commitment program, which offers incentives to incoming students who are admitted by Nov. 15 and deposited by Jan. 15. Benefits for those students will include early registration and early choice on on-campus housing.

Students who qualify will also enter a raffle system with a chance to win a full semester meal plan; room and board assistance; "dorm packages" like tvs, refrigerators and bedding; textbook scholarships and Creek Buck cards. The hope, Clark says, is to award those who commit to Campbell early and encourage others to make that choice earlier.

"It gets people admitted and it gets those students even more excited about coming to Campbell," he said.

His office is also revamping the J.A. Campbell Scholarship, which has seen a few changes in recent years. Entering the 2026-2027 academic year, the scholarship will be a competition that will award five full-tuition winners. Even applying for the scholarship and showing up for the competition on campus will earn a student a minimum $2,000 scholarship.

"We're hoping to grow that scholarship from about 100 participants in the past to more than 200 each year going forward," Clark said. "The idea is to get them here, to showcase our campus and showcase great things we offer here at Campbell."

For the third straight year since the pandemic, Campbell enjoyed a successful enrollment season with 736 total new incoming students - a figure that includes freshmen, transfer and international students. Those students come from 34 different states and 68 of North Carolina's 100 counties. "Those numbers show Campbell continues to have a great breadth of incoming students from outside of our area," Clark said.

The unweighted GPA of those incoming students was 3.45, and the female-to-male ratio for the new class was 53 to 47 percent, in line with recent years.

According to Director of First Year Enrollment Caroline Timiney, pre-nursing, pre-biology, business administration and engineering continue to be big draws for incoming freshmen. The Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing enjoyed its largest incoming class since the program's founding this fall with students who will make up the Class of 2027.

"Campbell continues to do a really great job of creating relevant programs," Timiney said. "They know that there's a desire for certain fields, which is why we now have programs like engineering and why nursing is as successful as it is today. There's going to be a need for those professionals now and for years to come.

Clark said that since arriving at Campbell, he's seen first-hand the draw of the school, and he's excited to highlight its many assets going forward.

"We have a wonderful location in a growing community with wonderful programs that are distinct," Clark said. "Nursing, our PGA Golf Management program, engineering and trust and wealth management … these are easy programs to sell. And we're in a part of the state that's one of the Top 3 fastest-growing areas of the country. Looking forward, there's a lot we still need to do - such as expanding our reach outside of this area and this state - but we have a lot to work with there."

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