Admissions celebrating the big incoming class.

Revitalized recruitment efforts from Millikin Admissions and Athletics have led to the largest freshman class since 2020.

The recruitment goal for 2025 was to add 500 new students to Millikin, which includes first-years, transfers, readmitted students, international degree seekers, and athletes. Admissions exceeded that milestone at 545 new students. 

“Admission is a hard job, and admission is a fun job, but it’s hard because there’s a lot of pressure to get the number,” Molly Berry, Executive Director of Admission, said. “It’s a lot of late nights and weekends, but we have a fun young team of people. It is the most fun office to work in on campus.”

This achievement did not happen overnight, nor was it magic. This accomplishment is the product of a committed team that was able to recognize the flaws and drawbacks of previous recruitment tactics and use that experience to create a better process.

“A few years ago, we really started to think about [if we are] doing things that are risky,” Berry said. “Are we doing things that are kind of old and worn out? So we started to take it year by year. We would change something [a] little, and last year was the most drastic change, so we started to approach the admission cycle very differently.”

The admission process at Millikin became much more automated, and potential students would know faster whether they were accepted or not after applying. This allowed them the opportunity to make a quicker decision since they could also view their financial aid package online. As long as the applicant had a certain GPA, they would be admitted. 

“We used to do a very paper-driven process, so we would print that application, and we would print the transcript, and we would put it in a folder, and someone had to review that, and then they would have to manually code everything into the system,” Berry said. “There was just a lot of touching, so we worked with IT last year to set up an automatic admit.”

While the new and improved admission process allowed for quicker decisions, it is far from the only reason the admission goal was exceeded. Admissions partnered with the Athletics Department to increase recruiting efforts. Typically, around 45-50% of incoming first-year and transfer students are athletes, meaning athletics plays a crucial role in bringing new students to campus. 

“Athletics is all in on supporting Millikin in any and every way we can,” Lori Kerans, Vice President for Athletics and Community Engagement, said. “We feel [that] if we can bring in about half of every incoming class, it’s going to really help the institution grow.” 

Kerans approaches athletics with an admissions mindset since just last year she was an admissions counselor who focused on recruitment in Macon County and worked directly with local coaches. In her new role, Kerans prioritizes retention through the student-athlete experience.

“I believe athletics is one of many reasons, but an important reason, why families come to look at Millikin,” Kerans said. “If we can just get them to visit campus and meet the amazing people and see the amazing facilities, understand academics better, understand the financial aid process better, [and] if it’s a good fit for them, they will graduate from Millikin.”

While Kerans recognizes the impact student-athletes have on enrollment numbers, she is passionate about making sure students are encouraged to succeed just as much in the classroom as they are on the court. 

“I don’t ever want people to forget that it’s student, hyphen, athlete, and student comes first,” Kerans said. “My job is to usher those students through the experience and process to get to graduation. The biggest championship and celebration we ever have is not conference championships or national championships; it’s when we see that student walk across the graduation stage and know that they are a part of the Millikin alumni family forever.”

Admissions plans to keep the momentum from this recruitment cycle going and will continue to arrange as many campus visits as possible to expose more potential students to Millikin’s attractive campus and growing culture.

“Our campus is really pretty, and our people are good, and when people come to campus, they fall in love, so that’s the easy part of my job,” Berry said.

Celebrating wins for Admissions is not always easy. The recruitment cycle is practically endless, and team members tend to travel frequently to high schools, college fairs, and other recruitment opportunities, making it twice as difficult to have everyone in the same place at the same time.

“We have a very short window to celebrate, but you know me, I like to celebrate,” Berry said. “I think we should celebrate everything, and so we try to do lots of different celebrations in the summer,” Berry said.

The Admissions team celebrated with ice cream, donuts, a boat day, and confetti cannons in Gorin Hall.

They also have club tickets to see a hockey team in December.

So if you see a bunch of new faces around campus, wave and thank Admissions for leading them home to Millikin.