Sept. 9, 2025

This piece is sponsored by Augustana University.

Augustana University has done it again: The 2025-26 academic year broke an enrollment record set last year, achieving the highest enrollment in the university’s 165-year history.

Newly released data shows 2,548 undergraduate and graduate students, a more than 6.5 percent increase over the record set one year ago.

The student body includes 2,143 undergraduates, a number not seen in 35 years, and the highest ever incoming class with 615 students — a 15 percent increase from the prior year.

“I remember when I came to Augustana, and we talked about wanting to enroll incoming classes of more than 500 students,” said Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, the university’s president.

“There was a fair amount of skepticism on campus and in the community. Augustana hadn’t had freshman classes of that size since the 1970s, yet we have enrolled classes over 500 two of the last three years, and now, here we are over 600.”

The 2025-26 class alone includes 405 graduate students, reflecting new and growing programs such as the Master of Business Administration and Master of Social Work, as well as the university’s first doctorate program in physical therapy.

The encouraging momentum builds on years of strategic planning and investments. The university’s multiyear Viking Bold strategic plan is being executed intentionally — resulting in new and innovative academic programs, upgrades to university facilities and amenities, and expansion of athletics programs.

“Success breeds success. By being bold and aspirational, we garner more attention and investment, and we create more energy and interest,” Herseth Sandlin said.

“You feel the positivity and optimism from students and colleagues alike, and we’re combining the expertise and passion of faculty with the curiosity and commitment of students who want this type of academic and student-life experience.”

This year’s incoming class represents students from 22 states and 20 countries, with a sizable presence close to home. Seventeen percent of the class graduated from public schools in the Sioux Falls School District. That grows to 23 percent when its two largest neighboring school districts of Brandon Valley and Harrisburg are included and to 26 percent when O’Gorman High School and Sioux Falls Christian High School are added.

“We’re maintaining strength in applicants from Sioux Falls and across South Dakota, which was a very deliberate strategy over the last three years,” Herseth Sandlin said. 

Beyond that, 22 percent of the class is from Minnesota, with 10 percent from the Twin Cities metro area.

“We’ve seen growth in the Twin Cities, and I think it’s a combination of things — from the work our staff has done there to the addition of hockey,” said Adam Heinitz, associate vice president for enrollment management. “I think when students come from the Twin Cities to Sioux Falls now, it’s different than it was even three or four years ago. It is an up-and-coming city with most everything they’re accustomed to or would look for in a city.”

Student stories

Students also find Augustana through vast interactions and experiences.

One incoming student, for instance, moved to Dallas from Sioux Falls after middle school.

“But while he was here, he participated in a NASA-related program that Augustana professors were involved in, and they planted the seed. They said he needed to come to Augustana,” Herseth Sandlin said.

“Based on those relationships that started in middle school, he came back and enrolled at Augustana. That’s the benefit of being a smaller, more intimate university in a growing city.”

Another student from Texas was interested in a bioinformatics major and discovered Augustana while in high school participating in a program for college credit in Costa Rica.

“That was the seed that connected him,” Heinitz said. “Another student from Hawaii first came to South Dakota for a college camp elsewhere but spent time in Sioux Falls, really liked Sioux Falls and found Augustana.”

A student from New York “discovered our Journey Scholars Program, which offers leadership and mentorship to students,” he said. “The same is true for students throughout the Midwest interested in the Buntrock Scholars Program. For them, these opportunities were the driving force in finding out more about Augustana.”

Two friends came from Oklahoma to be part of Augustana’s figure skating club.

“It started with one, and then her friend looked into it,” Heinitz said. “There are all these anecdotal experiences of people who come for different reasons – things they’re passionate about – that lead them to Augustana.”

Augustana University continues to draw international students, with 70 new students from outside the U.S. in the incoming class — many of whom began with personal connections.

“Two members of our board of trustees are originally from Pakistan: one is a Sanford Health physician and the other a recent graduate who works at Raven,” Herseth Sandlin said.

“They become validators to friends and family in Pakistan who may be looking to study in the United States, and they affirm that Augustana is a great choice. We have these kinds of relationships with alumni and trustees who are national and global, and they’ve helped with enrollment too.”

Key differentiators

No matter where a student comes from, several key themes are consistent in deciding on enrolling at Augustana.

“The student-to-faculty ratio is still a really big deal for a lot of parents and students,” Herseth Sandlin said. “And we surround our students with a lot of support services to help them succeed. I encourage parents to look at first-to-second-year retention rates in deciding on a school, as well as graduation rates. These are significant investments, and you see the benefit of Augustana’s personalized approach when looking at these key metrics.”

Augustana University also has made a strong commitment to financial assistance, growing its endowment to almost $130 million — funding scholarships to help bridge the gap for students and families.

“We’ve made a concerted effort to serve our community and make Augustana more accessible through affordability,” Heinitz said. “We continue to create awareness that students can attend Augustana despite being a private university. We don’t have a single student who doesn’t receive some type of scholarship or grant.”

Especially popular majors include nursing, biology, exercise science, business administration and psychology. Across these majors and others are unique and innovative interdisciplinary programs such as fintech, neuroscience and bioinformatics, as well as media production and entrepreneurship.

“We also have 100 new students who are part of our school of music, freshmen and transfers, so that’s a record number,” Heinitz said. “They’re not all majors, but many are part of performance ensembles — being part of something in addition to the academic journey is important.”

Maintaining that sort of growth in higher education is anything but easy or automatic.

“Augustana has a rich history of effectively and courageously adapting to change,” Herseth Sandlin said. “We’ve taken risks while staying grounded in mission and focusing on what matters most. We have wind in our sails despite the headwinds in higher education today. There are always hard decisions around budget priorities, but we don’t have the magnitude of challenges that many others are working through right now.”

Sioux Falls itself is an attractor for Augustana students.

“It’s a city with boundless opportunities,” Heinitz said. “It’s undeniable the opportunities students have relative to career development and internships. We know that students see themselves staying in Sioux Falls even more than they did a decade ago.”

Even parents are sold, he added.

“I talked with some parents who were staying downtown during new student registration and loved it,” he said. “They went to Levitt at the Falls and were so impressed by the city that their daughter had accidentally stumbled upon.”

The city’s vibrant, welcoming culture is key, Herseth Sandlin added.

“Sioux Falls is the kind of community in which newcomers feel valued and comfortable contributing ideas and participating in civic life,” she said. “That’s critical not just for students and families but for new faculty and staff at Augustana who come here from other parts of the country. People feel a palpable sense of authentic connection and goodwill – on campus and in the city – and that’s really benefiting us and helping us grow.”

Augustana still has ambitious goals ahead, including reaching an enrollment of 3,000 by 2030.

“We keep moving the needle, and it’s a harder needle to move because of the decline in birth rates during the Great Recession, leading to fewer high school students for colleges and universities to recruit over the next few years,” Herseth Sandlin said.

“But as we continue to offer traditional undergraduates excellent living and learning experiences and add more hybrid graduate programs, there’s a greater belief now that we just might get there. We feel like if anyone can move that needle, we can.”

For more information on how to Find Your Bold at Augustana, visit augie.edu.