By God’s grace, Southwestern has moved from a time of crisis in September of 2022 to a time of institutional hopefulness in the fall of 2025. The seminary community has moved from a time in which all our efforts needed to be focused on addressing the challenges and fixing problems to a time of new opportunities, allowing the seminary community to think about ways to strengthen and enhance the
overall work.
Fall 2025 and Enrollment Markers
We are grateful to God that the fall 2025 semester has started so wonderfully well with an uptick in new students, in total students, and in credit hours taught. The positive spirit across all aspects of the Southwestern campus is truly hopeful. The enrollment increase in total students for the fall term is especially significant given that the spring graduating class was the largest at Southwestern in over two decades. These are all important markers of genuine stability, for which we offer thanks to God. Indeed, the Lord has heard and answered our prayers.
These fall indicators build on the momentum of the past three years. The enrollment and retention teams have worked strategically and effectively. While the enrollment increases may not be in the exact degree programs that we would wish, we are, nevertheless, grateful for every student that the Lord has allowed us to prepare for ministry at Southwestern. We are especially encouraged by the overall credit hour increases, the undergraduate numbers, and the uptick in new MDiv students and new doctoral students. Expressions of gratitude belong to many, for every sector of the Southwestern community has contributed to the positive turn.
Finances
Southwestern Seminary has experienced a more than $10 million operational turnaround since the fall of 2022. The budget prospects for the 2025-26 year are encouraging. It can now be said that Southwestern Seminary, by God’s grace, has reached a place of financial stability and is clearly on a path toward financial health.
We are grateful for the leadership of Board members, guidance from our bankers, and the overall commitments of every sector of the Southwestern Seminary community toward enhanced financial stewardship and responsible budget management. Moreover, we are grateful to God for the faithful unrestricted giving and overall goodwill from alumni, donors, and friends. We are especially thankful for dedicated prayer partners who have prayed faithfully for God’s help, guidance, and provision
along the way.
Space and Property Utilization Project
In the fall of 2023, Board leaders suggested that the administration appoint a space and property utilization task team to study the efficiency of space usage across the Southwestern campus. The task team brought a report to the Board members in the fall of 2024, which was unanimously received and is now in the process of being implemented.
New opportunities will be explored in the months ahead as a part of the overall strategy of envisioning the kind of campus needed to serve Southwestern effectively and efficiently in the years ahead. The sale of the Carroll Park property was essential to help ensure the survival of the seminary. Any future considerations will not be for the purpose of survival since institutional stability has now been reached. Instead, these matters will be deliberately considered as important decisions for the Board of Trustees and administration to work together to help strategically shape a preferred future for Southwestern in the second quarter of the 21st century.
Past and Current Challenges as well as Future Opportunities
With the help and blessings of God, Southwestern has addressed challenging legal issues, reputational issues, morale issues, relational and trust matters, enrollment and financial issues, and overall institutional stability concerns. As the institution moves into the fourth year of this new administration, there is evidence not only of stability but continuity in all aspects of our work.
The entire seminary community has embraced the six core values (seeking to be Grace Filled, Christ Centered, Scripturally Grounded, Confessionally Guided, Student Focused, and Globally Engaged) while also understanding the implications for living out these core values as we carry out the seminary’s mission across the Southwestern campus.
It certainly cannot and should not be missed that institution-wide commitments to prayer have undergirded all these efforts. We are grateful for the goodwill from the various Southwestern constituency groups who continue to offer financial support in addition to their faithful prayers, even as we invite others to join us in these efforts.
We are grateful to God for the contributions of so many who have moved the seminary from the place of crisis in September of 2022 to the current place of hopefulness in September of 2025. We pledge, with God’s help, to look forward with an ongoing resolve for the sake of so many Southwesterners who have gone before us, for our shared love for our current students, and for our shared hopefulness regarding future Southwestern students, staff, and faculty.
With the special resources and wonderful heritage that Southwestern has been given, the ongoing commitments from all sectors of the Southwestern constituency, and the Lord’s enablement, guidance, blessings, favor, provision, and protection, we believe that Southwestern is well positioned for a positive and blessed future.
