MURFREESBORO – High school seniors are applying to Chowan College in record numbers, according to Jonathan Wirt, Vice President for Enrollment Management for the College.

&uot;Almost 1,400 applications for next fall have been received compared to less than 500 at the same time last year,&uot; the newly named VP reported.

&uot;It appears that the good news is spreading about Chowan,&uot; he said, while pointing to the roughly 200 percent increase in applications as substantial proof.

Wirt added that more than 2,000 applicants are eventually expected to fill the 450 freshmen vacancies next year.

Acceptances to Chowan College as well as deposits are considerably higher compared to last year.

According to the latest report, Chowan has accepted 527 incoming students compared to 284 this time last year, which is up almost 200 percent.

Deposits compared to last year are up 700 percent.

&uot;It’s exciting to see that students are once again clamoring to join us,&uot; Dr. Chris White, President of Chowan College, announced.

The record number of applicants follows on the heels of a near record financial surplus for the year.

&uot;Last fiscal year was one of the best, if not the very best, Chowan College has ever experienced,&uot; White reported to the Board of Trustees in December.

Asked why the dramatic increase in prospective students applying for admission to the college was occurring, Wirt responded, &uot;We revamped our entire recruiting system under the direction of Vice President John Hinton, who until recently was in charge of the recruiting process.&uot;

&uot;Under Hinton’s guidance, a direct mail and Internet approach was undertaken and it has been quite successful,&uot; Wirt said.

Hinton recently was named Assistant to the President and Vice President for Human Resources.

Wirt, who recently came to Chowan College from Gardner-Webb University where he had an extremely successful career in student recruiting, has inaugurated additional recruiting and marketing efforts that could culminate in an impressive increase in the number of students for the fall of 2005.

&uot;We are excited with the remarkable interest being shown in Chowan College and it appears that we are well on the road toward a successful enrollment,&uot; Wirt concluded.

To learn more about enrollment at Chowan College, please contact the Office of Enrollment Management at 1-800-488-4101 or admissions@chowan.edu.

Interested persons may also attend Open House to learn more about Chowan College.

The remaining 2004-2005 Open House dates are Monday, February 21 and Saturday, April 2.

Please visit www.chowan.edu for more information.