Spring Hill College looking ahead for another banner enrollment year in 2007

MOBILE — Fall 2006 was a record-breaking year for new students enrolling at Spring Hill College when 348 freshmen enrolled, and the college expects to break that record this fall.

Steve Pochard, dean of admissions, is cautiously optimistic and is looking to welcome a freshman class of more than 385 students. “It’s always difficult to predict the final numbers,” Pochard said. “But it looks like we’ll have another record-breaking year.”

The college has experienced eight consecutive years of record traditional undergraduate enrollment since 1999, and since 1998 traditional undergraduate enrollment has increased 23.5 percent. The class of 2011 will include students from 24 states and 30 percent rank in the top 10 percent of their high-school graduating class, while 62 percent rank in the top 25 percent of their graduating class.

“More and more students are recognizing not only our longstanding academic and teaching excellence, and our focus on providing the hallmarks of a Jesuit, Catholic education, but also the outstanding living and learning experience Spring Hill College offers,” said the Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, S.J., Spring Hill College president. “We find that students choose Spring Hill after a campus visit, and they also take more notice of the wonderful amenities the Gulf Coast and Mobile have to offer.”

During the past year, 1,074 students visited the college compared to 917 last year at this time.

Spring Hill College is the first Catholic college in the Southeast, the third oldest Jesuit college and the fifth oldest Catholic college in the United States. The campus rests on a 400-acre site in one of Mobile’s most noted neighborhoods, is naturally landscaped and features huge oaks, azalea-lined walkways and an 18-hole golf course. Several campus buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.