Augustana University has welcomed a total of 2,548 students — part- and full-time undergraduate and graduate students — for Academic Year 2025-26. Hailing from 44 states and 45 countries, the number marks the largest ever student body in Augustana’s 165-year history.
“This fall’s record enrollment reflects the momentum of our Viking Bold: The Journey to 2030 strategic plan and dedication of our faculty and staff in offering an excellent and innovative learning environment. When prospective students and families visit campus, they feel the energy firsthand, and our graduates’ outcomes affirm the value of an Augustana education,” President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin said.
The student body includes 2,143 total undergraduates, which is the largest overall undergraduate headcount at Augustana in 35 years.
Among those undergraduates, a total of 615 full-time first-year students chose to find their bold at AU — an all-time record high and a 15% increase from last year. Twenty-six percent of the incoming class includes students from the Sioux Falls, Brandon Valley and Harrisburg School Districts, as well as O’Gorman and Sioux Falls Christian High Schools. The class also includes students from 21 other states — 22% from Minnesota, including 10% from the Twin Cities Metro area. Twenty countries outside of the U.S. are also represented in the incoming class, including 70 new international students.
“We’re really making a concerted effort to serve our community, making Augustana accessible to more students. We don’t have a single student who doesn’t receive some type of scholarship and/or grant,” said Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Adam Heinitz ‘99. “It’s undeniable the opportunity for students relative to career development and internships, and we just have the benefit of a city that has boundless opportunities.”
The top majors declared by Augustana students are nursing, biology, exercise science, business administration and psychology. Innovative interdisciplinary programs across these majors and others include bioinformatics, fintech and neuroscience, as well as media production & entrepreneurship.
The number of first-year students from Fall 2024 returning to Augustana for Fall 2025 is 85.9% — the second highest retention rate in the university’s history.
Augustana also set a record for the overall number of graduate students in the university’s history with 405, thanks in part to the university’s new Master of Social Work (MSW) program and its first doctorate program — the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) — which was recently granted full accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).