Dr. Timothy Tennent: ATS Hits “Triple Crown” Victory with Record Fall 2020 Enrollment
Kentucky is known all over the world for horse racing. The highest achievement in horse racing is to earn the Triple Crown by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes all in one season. Only thirteen horses have achieved this in the history of thoroughbred racing.
In the world of seminaries and student enrollment, there is something similar to the Triple Crown. It is a difficult achievement and one that all enrollment operations strive to accomplish. The “triple crown” consists of reaching a record Fall “new student” enrollment, record
number of courses taken in one “season” and record number of overall students in the entire seminary. This is difficult to achieve simply because it requires sustained multi-year growth with adaptation to major trends, such as part-time students and shorter degree programs. It represents months and years of diligent hard work.
The annual effort to recruit students is led by our first class Admissions team with massive support from the faculty who develop and approve all degree programs and faithfully teach and mentor students each semester. It also requires scholarship support from Advancement, communications and website support from the Communications department, technology support from LITS, and the spiritual work from Formation that is so important for student retention. It also relies on the amazing work which you, our alumni, do year after year as you recommend men and women to answer the call of God and come to Asbury Seminary for training!
Our goal was to achieve the “Triple Crown” by the year 2023 when Asbury reaches its 100th birthday. Yet, here in 2020, even in the midst of COVID-19, that hope has been fulfilled. For Fall 2020, Asbury has recorded the largest fall enrollment in our history with 514 new students. With the new students and record retention numbers, we now have 1,806 students enrolled, surpassing the previous record of 1,741 set in 2006. And to complete the Triple Crown, we have a record number of 10,793 credit hours taken by students.
I am so very proud of everyone who helped to make this goal come true. We have over 12,000 alumni, but we have a lot more in the pipeline to join you side by side in ministry during these amazing days of opportunity. Please join me in celebrating this remarkable achievement and, most of all, let us praise God for his grace and mercy upon Asbury. Without his grace, none of this would have been possible. Thanks be to God!
God is indeed with us! Amidst COVID-19, when global health security is of top priority , coupled with job scarcity, economic challenges, we see God opening doors for the education advancement of many at Asbury Seminary. Praise God.
This is good news. Keep up Asbury Seminary.
Praise the Lord. This is indeed remarkable during the COVID19. Thank God for his graciousness
Dr. Tennent,
To God be the glory for this great news and thank God that students have Asbury Seminary to choose to attend in order to gain a truly biblical worldview. In 1974 I was pressured to go to an “official” United Methodist Seminary, but a pastor friend in Western Pennsylvania encouraged me to choose Asbury because I believed that Genesis 1 – 11 was part of the true history of the world and nobody would try to talk me out of it at Asbury. Rather, the professors would help me understand the full plan of God for the salvation of the world from Genesis to Revelation. Indeed, that was true and I am forever grateful.
Fix your eyes on Jesus,
Dale Shunk, ATS ’77
Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!