By Robbie Scudder
Staff photographer

For five years now the Grand Rapids Theological Seminary enrollment has been on a steady climb. This year, it has reached its record high attendance in GRTS history.

According to the GRTS Summary of Enrollment, the fall enrollment is at 329 students, compared to 289 students in fall of 2008. The enrollment at GRTS has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs. In the fall of 1953 GRTS started with just 34 students and hit 277 in fall of 1981.

In the fall of 1994, the number of students reached 203 again and it has stayed above 200 students ever since. After being at 203 students in 2003, GRTS has steadily increased its numbers every year.

This semester is the first year attendance has ever reached over 300 students in the Grand Rapids Theological Seminary according to the GRTS Summary of Enrollment.

This rise in attendance at GRTS has happened because the help of the entire GRTS faculty. They have made efforts to expand recruiting, offered additional financial aid and two urban cohort programs have become very popular, according to Peter Osborn, the assistant professor of education ministries and associate dean of student services.

The new financial aid offered is called the Master in Divinity Scholarship. This scholarship offers an extra $1,000 for a student in the Master of Divinity program.

“It gives them the ability to maybe not have to work while in school,” said Tara Kram, director of admissions at GRTS.

Some people are shocked to see numbers raising with the economy the way it is but the “economy goes down and education across the board goes up,” Osborn said.

This year’s enrollment is 13 percent increase over last year’s enrollment. Attendance isn’t the only thing that is on the rise. Osborn said, “The diversity of students has gone up at GRTS.”

Osborn has estimated that out of all the GRTS students, 10 percent were women last year and now 37 percent of the student body are women this year. This rise is the same for minorities. Minorities were once at 10 percent and are now estimated to be up to 25 percent of the student body.