Southeastern University Enrolls Record 14,500+ Students, Extends 15-Year Growth Streak

Southeastern University announced on Sept. 2 that more than 14,500 students are enrolled this fall, the school's largest class ever and its 15th straight year of growth. That puts SEU, one of Lakeland's biggest employers, on a trajectory that runs opposite the rest of American higher education, where private religious colleges have been closing their doors.

Of this fall's students, 3,931 attend classes in person on SEU's 88-acre campus along Crystal Lake Drive. Another 3,005 study through SEU Network partner sites, a system of more than 200 micro-campuses in 42 states built with churches, businesses and nonprofits. A further 1,059 are enrolled fully online. SEU expects the number of dual-enrolled high schoolers taking online classes to top last year's 6,500 once final counts are in.

SEU president Kent Ingle, who took the job in 2011, credited the growth to the university staying focused on its mission. Fifteen years ago, the school had about 2,200 students. On Aug. 14, The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked SEU the nation's fourth-fastest-growing private doctoral university.

A major local employer, still hiring

The Lakeland Economic Development Council lists SEU as the city's seventh-largest employer, with 1,072 workers on its payroll locally. Under Ingle, the school has added 70 degree programs since 2011 and built out the SEU Network as its main growth engine, pairing online coursework with in-person internships at partner locations.

SEU is now trying to align some of that growth with what Lakeland employers actually need. The university built a new associate degree in nursing directly with leaders at Lakeland Regional Health, according to SEU Provost Aimee Franklin, who was named to the post in June. Franklin said the hospital system was asked what skills its new hires needed so graduates wouldn't require retraining. Students in the two-year program take prerequisites online, then complete simulation labs and clinical rotations in the evenings and on weekends, a schedule designed for working parents who couldn't otherwise afford to leave a job to become a nurse.

SEU also launched a professional pilot degree through Kingsky Flight Academy at Lakeland Linder International Airport, giving students a path into aviation careers without leaving the county. The school has added a 90-credit computer science degree and a redesigned MBA in sport management, with a political science associate's degree planned next.

Money behind the growth, and a debt to pay down

The expansion has come with outside financial backing. In April, SEU announced a $16 million scholarship endowment from the family of the late pharmaceutical executive Robert Graper, who had ties to the Assemblies of God, the denomination SEU is affiliated with. The university also received a $10 million grant last December through Lilly's Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative to fund a training program that helps other Christian colleges copy SEU's network model.

That windfall sits alongside a harder number. SEU's tax filings show $80.4 million in long-term debt. A university spokesperson said retiring that debt is part of a five-year strategic plan set to launch in 2027, though the school has not released details on how it plans to get there.

SEU charges $10,170 a year for online classes, with individual SEU Network sites adding their own "site fee" depending on the amenities offered there. That variation can be large: one partner site, Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, charges $20,000 a year including room and board, a difference the university's vice president of advancement and innovation, Michael Steiner, has described simply as each site's own math.

SEU has not said when the 2027 strategic plan will be finalized or released publicly. Final fall enrollment numbers, reported to a federal government survey, are still pending.

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