(KIWA Staff Photo)Orange City, Iowa (Sioux County Radio) — Northwestern College’s traditional undergraduate enrollment has reached its highest level since 2015, with 1,092 students attending the Orange City college this fall.
Total enrollment for fall 2026 stands at 1,627, the fifth-largest in school history. Northwestern also reported an 83% retention rate, its highest in at least 20 years.
The incoming class includes 317 full-time freshmen, matching last year’s total, along with 41 transfer students — the college’s largest transfer group in a decade. This marks the third straight year Northwestern has exceeded its new-student recruitment goal by more than 10%.
Tamara Fynaardt, Northwestern’s vice president for enrollment and marketing, said the numbers reflect both strong recruitment and students’ decisions to return. She noted that campus energy is especially visible when students from varied backgrounds choose Northwestern because they value its focus on spiritual, academic, and relational growth.
The report highlights strength in both recruitment and retention, with the decade-high transfer count accompanying a freshman class equal in size to last fall’s.
Fynaardt said the results come at a time when many colleges are facing financial pressures and declining enrollments, adding that Northwestern is grateful for God’s faithfulness.
