If you did not notice the 900 new faces roaming around campus, that’s the class of 2015 coming in as the second-largest freshman class Loyola has ever had.

This year’s enrollment increased 14 percent from 2010. Surprisingly, the over 900 freshmen did not push the university to its capacity, according to Salvadore Liberto, vice president for Enrollment Management.

As of this year, Loyola has enrolled 3100 students, just 200 students shy of reaching capacity, according to Liberto. This means the university is able to accommodate all the students with only minor changes.

Freshmen said they feel Loyola has met their needs well.

Rebecca Walker, mathematics freshman, said she has hardly experienced any over-crowding in her residence hall, Biever Hall, or in her classes. The only crowding Walker comes across is in the Biever laundry room, “But even the laundry room is not too bad,” Walker said.

Not only has the university been accommodating new students, it has also provided them with several merit scholarships.

Nearly 64 percent of the class of 2015 received scholarships as a reward for their achievements in high school, as well as an incentive to come to Loyola.

“Compared to the other Jesuit schools, Loyola is top three or four most generous with scholarships,” Liberto said.

A marketing strategy the university put into effect three years ago also helped with the number of freshmen this year, Liberto said.

“The goal (of the marketing strategy) is to connect students to the university that is a good fit,” he said. “The marketing strategy was an intro for students to choose Loyola, come to Loyola, and graduate from Loyola.”

The scholarships and marketing strategies were not the only reason for such a large freshman class. Drew Kenner, a music performance freshman from California, said it was his love for the city and music that brought him to Loyola. After reading an article in DownBeat magazine that said Loyola was one of the top 10 music universities, Kenner said he immediately knew this was the school for him.

Loyola’s efforts to increase the enrollment have paid off. The number of students has increased from 2,500 students in 2007 to 3,100 students today.

According to Liberto, students should be expecting this from Loyola each year as the university is “increasing the value of this degree.”

Liberto said he believes this “is a great time to be a student and alumni of Loyola.”

Jamie Futral can be reached at [email protected]