Our SBC seminaries as a whole have increased in their student enrollment by 8-10% in the past 10 years!
SBC Seminaries FULL TIME Student Enrollment
2017-18 vs. 2007-08
SBTS: 1,702 vs. 1,411 = 21% Increase
SWBTS: 1,393 vs. 1,847
SEBTS: 1,602 vs. 863 = 86% Increase
MBTS: 1,120 vs. 398 = 181% Increase
NOBTS: 909 vs. 1,579
Gateway Seminary: 634 vs. 699
TOTAL = 7,360 vs. 6,797 = 8% increase!
SBC Seminaries TOTAL Student Enrollment
2017-18 vs. 2007-08
SBTS: 3,157 vs. 2,562 = 23% increase
SWBTS: 2,767 vs. 2,693 = 3% increase
SEBTS: 2,187 vs. 1,542 = 42% increase
MBTS: 1,814 vs. 765 = 137% increase
NOBTS: 1,570 vs. 2,604
Gateway Seminary: 1,297 vs. 1,452
TOTAL: 12,792 vs. 11,618 = 10% increase!
*These stats came from the Association of Theological Schools’ Annual Data Tables.
What is happening at NOBTS?
I think Hurricane Katrina is the biggest culprit.
181% increase for MBTS? They are certainly doing something right!
I’m not sure seminary enrollment is an indicator of overall denominational prosperity. When I was at Southwestern, in the late 1980’s, full time enrollment soared above the 4,000 mark, and there were more students at just SWBTS and SBTS than there are at all six schools now, and that was without undergraduate programs at any of them. One of the best things the SBC does, that few other denominations consider, is to underwrite theological education. If you compare Southeastern with some of the other alternatives, especially for Baptists or conservatives in the area, it’s $7,000 a year if you are… Read more »
Lee, the numbers I’ve provided above do not include Undergrad Student Enrollment. The Undergrad departments of our seminaries are not accredited by the Association of Theological Schools, at least their undergrad degrees are not.
I don’t think this is a very good indicator of where the SBC is currently. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I am familiar with SBC churches throughout the state. What I see in the churches doesn’t line up with these numbers. I am seeing SBC churches merge in Tulsa because they are on the verge of closing their doors. I know tons of Baptist churches barely hanging on in rural areas. My home church that boasted of 500 in the 80’s now runs only 200 on a good day. Where they once ran 300 in Sunday School, those numbers… Read more »
Pastor J,
Shrinking isnt the same as demise.
Pruning shrinks the tree size but in the end makes it stronger.
The usa and europe [already] are going to experience a winnowing in the number of true declared christians as the chaff is blown away from the kernel.
Blessings
Always amusing when someone predicts the demise of’ the SBC or CP…
I did a piece last July from the SBC book of reports. Seminary FTE was down a couple of percent for the last 3 year period.
There is always a lot of confusion in regard to seminary enrollments. The seminary administrators like to point to their “head count” numbers. The head count numbers are those found in Jared’s second list of Total Enrollment. The administrators naturally like those numbers better because they are always larger. FTE (Full Time Equivalent) is the total number of semester hours completed by all the students divided by 24. The number 24 represents two semesters with 12 semester hours completed each semester. That is how the Association of Theological Schools defines a full-time student. Lots of seminaries are struggling to keep… Read more »
So of our six seminaries – two schools are getting smaller by total head count numbers…wonder why?
Ahh, an FTE student is 12 hours a semester. Wow.
When I was a full time student at SWBTS’ Houston campus (2011-2012), I believe I was the only student that entire school year who took more than 6 hours a semester.
I’m not sure that Seminary enrollment is a good barometer of the condition of the SBC. Keep in mind that this increase in total enrollment has occurred at the same time that membership in the SBC has declined by almost a million and average Sunday attendance has declined by 500,000. Therefore, it is questionable to see the number of students as having causality with the growth in the individual churches. Also, there is somewhat of an assumption that the Seminary graduates will be hired by SBC churches once they have a degree. I remember reading several years ago that the… Read more »
I formerly taught at Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY. Southern Seminary attracts lots of northern Evangelicals, who do not have a background, or even knowledge, of the SBC. When they arrive at SBTS, they discover that students who are members of a Southern Baptist church receive a 50% discount on their tuition. So, not surprisingly, many join a Southern Baptist church in the Louisville area. So, I agree that the relation of seminary enrollment to the health of the SBC may be tenuous.