Lubbock Christian University (LCU) has officially welcomed the largest freshman class in the university’s history, bolstering overall enrollment by nearly a hundred students despite celebrating the largest recent class of graduates in May.
With the release of the official enrollment numbers for the 2025-26 school year, LCU has enrolled 450 new incoming freshmen, bringing the total enrollment to 1683 students, an increase of 6% from the previous year and the highest since 2019.
“We have been working hard for several years to strategically position the university for growth,” shared Dr. Kent Gallaher, Provost and Chief Academic Officer. “As a result, our extraordinary single year enrollment jump isn’t due to any one single thing, but instead a coordinated effort to remove barriers for enrollment, improve affordability, and expand academic offerings in areas that matter to prospective students.”
Dr. Jody Reding, Vice President of Enrollment Management, is proud of the work of the admissions team and so many across LCU’s campus who have worked to showcase the excellent quality of education and career preparation that students receive.
“We are proud to see Lubbock Christian University enroll the largest freshmen class in university history,” she expressed. “It underscores the university’s commitment to providing an outstanding student experience and exceptional learning environment within a welcoming and authentic Christ-centered community.”
Outcomes for LCU students continue to showcase great success—for 2025 graduates, 100% of students applying to graduate programs in occupational therapy, athletic training, physician’s assistant, and optometry were accepted, and over the last decade students have been accepted to veterinary (7x the national average), dental (23% higher), physical therapy (46% higher), occupational therapy (more than double), and physician’s assistant (nearly 3x) programs at rates far above national averages. Similarly, 100% of graduates from LCU’s College of Education secured teaching jobs after graduation for the fifth straight year.
“We’re not just growing our undergraduate programs,” added Dr. Gallaher. “Graduate enrollment is also up 21% since 2022. We were designated a level 5 doctoral university by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 2023, and since then we have added two DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) and two EdD (Doctor of Education) degrees to an already strong menu of graduate programs in everything from accounting to mental health counseling. LCU is on the move! I think we can best be described as a striving university—striving for excellence in teaching, striving for excellence in scholarship, and striving to make a difference in the lives of our students, and through them, the world.”
Another key factor in the momentum of this incoming class is LCU’s commitment to continually strive to increase affordability and accessibility of these successful degree programs. Recent financial assistance initiatives like the LCU Guarantee, through which eligible students receive 100% of the cost of tuition and mandatory fees to attend LCU, or the West Texas Promise, which pledges that all first-time beginning freshmen will receive a minimum of $28,000 over four years and potentially up to $40,000 over four years, are just the most recent products of LCU’s dedication to affordability.
“We recognize that college expenses weigh heavily on the minds of many families,” Dr. Redding emphasized. “As one of America’s top Christian universities, our commitment to providing a personalized and affordable Christian education is unwavering.”
In addition to the exciting momentum of these initiatives and the continuing wave of new students marking the beginning of their own LCU experience, LCU’s residence halls, including the new state-of-the-art Gullo Hall, stand at 99% capacity.
"For me, the key word when reflecting on the success of this enrollment cycle is simply the word, 'blessed,'” shared Dr. Scott McDowell, LCU’s seventh president. “We are blessed to have incredible people like Dr. Jody Reding and her amazing enrollment management team working tirelessly to recruit students. We are blessed to have a gifted and skilled faculty and staff who intentionally walk with students to fulfill our mission. We are blessed to have an amazing board of trustees who empower us and who constantly challenge us to stay on task with that mission. We are blessed to have donors and friends who support us financially and continually lift us up in prayer. And, of course, we are blessed by a God who is alive and well and active in this world and who continually shows up to remind us that he hasn't forgotten who we are or where we are.
“While that last line might be expected at a Christian university, I can assure you that it's more than lip service,” he added. “What being in this role has taught me more than anything else is the truth of that simple phrase, ‘God is good.’ This is a great day to focus on how blessed we are.”