BY JOO EUN KIM

Staff Writer

According to the annual Day 10 Report for the school year 2001-2002 by Tom VanEck of the Institutional Enrollment Research, interesting trends can be seen in the enrollment of Calvin College. Calvin has 4,267 students enrolled, which is approximately a one percent decline from last year's 4,314. This is because the entering class numbered 1,031, which is 2 percent lower than the last year's number of 1,053. Calvin faced the first decline in enrollment since 1992.

An interesting factor is that the number of first-year students affiliating with Christian Reformed Churches has dropped, and for the first time in Calvin's history, the number of the total undergraduate students whose denomination is CRC makes up less than 50 percent of Calvin's population. VanEck feels that part of the reason for the decline is that the CRC has been losing churches. The denomination has lost about 10 percent of its churches, thus the number of eligible CRC college students has decreased. He thinks another reason for the decline is the decrease of students choosing a college aligned with their denomination.

``People are less likely to stick with the denomination,'' VanEck said. However, he does not think this decline is not a serious problem. ``Students have more options [for college] now. This decline has been happening to other reformed colleges as well,'' VanEck explained.

There also seems to be an overall decline of high school academic strength for the first-year students. Although the figures continue to be high, the mean GPA went from 3.50 to 3.49, ACT Composite scores dropped 0.1 point, SAT scores went down from 1191 to 1177, and the number of students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class went down from 28 percent to 27 percent.

VanEck is not too concerned about the decline. ``It's very slight,'' he said. He would have to wait a few years to decide if the decline of the academic strength is a trend that will continue.

On the other hand, the five-year graduation rate for the first-year students that entered in 1996 is 71.3 percent, an increase of 3 percent, highest in Calvin's history. ``Calvin has been increasing its retention rate, and that led to an increase in graduation rate,'' VanEck said. Last year, Calvin had a good freshmen retention rate of 86.2 percent. Moreover, more AHANA ( North American students identifying themselves as African, Hispanic, Asian or Native-American) students, conditionally admitted students and non-CRC students are graduating each year.

As for the international student body, the total number went up 20 percent from last year. This year, there are 182 international students from almost 40 countries around the world, which is an increase from 152 students last year. They make up 4.3 percent of the total student body. ``The word of mouth has been helpful,'' said Linda Bosch, the director of the international student body. Calvin international students have brought their siblings and friends from abroad. Moreover, administrators have been traveling abroad, recruiting students, and the Calvin Alumni Choir visited Asia, spreading Calvin's name.

Bosch hopes for a greater increase and said, ``In order for international students to make an impact on campus, we need a high percentage of them. I would like to see the figure grow even more.''

There seems to be a general agreement of the positive impact of the increase in the percentage of international students. ``The growth of international students is important because a lot of people have no exposure to the world. I would challenge Dutch CRC students and other American students to expand their world,'' said Jacqueline Rhodes, dean of Multicultural Development.

Many are optimistic about Calvin's future after the report. Overall, Calvin has made progress, and all groups had contributed. ``It has been a team effort,'' said Rhodes.