Madonna University recently reported that they have enrolled a record number of freshman students for the 2020-21 school year. 

The school said that they enrolled 282 students, which is encouraging during this time of pandemic. 

“Additionally, we have the highest residential population at 373, and despite a national concern that students would not return due to the coronavirus pandemic, we saw that the percentage of students who returned after their first year remained the same as last year (76 percent),” Ian Day, vice president for Enrollment Management and COO, said in a release issued on the university's website. 

The student body total is now 2,787, which is being aided by a strong attendance of the Exercise and Sport Science, Sport Management and Nursing programs, which experienced sizeable percentage increases. 

Day credits the high enrollment rates to not only new programs, but also opportunities for students to tap into a unique and high-quality lifestyle while living on campus. 

Madonna has been hard at work creating a plan that will protect the well-being of students, staff and faculty on campus, including reconfiguring classrooms, implementing hand sanitizing stations and switching up food service hand-offs to make them contact-free. 

Courses are also being offered in online, hybrid and in-person formats. 

Football has been a major draw to the school as well, with the inaugural football season having already been scheduled to kick off in the first quarter of the new year.

Students will be able to enjoy the all-new Franciscan Center, which is filled with gear and supplies for the school. They also have the opportunity to order their textbooks online with the automatic Textbook Butler system.

“Inspired by the Felician Sisters, who founded the University nearly 90 years ago, and who suffered an incredible loss during the pandemic; Madonna students, faculty, and staff have committed to care for one another to ensure a safe and successful academic year,” the university said in the release.