With classroom space at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church ready to accommodate two sections of 35 students for each core course, Luther Classical College is prepared to welcome up to 70 students for its historic first class in August 2025.

“Back in September 2023, we decided to aim for 50 to 60 students,” notes Dr. Ryan MacPherson, academic dean. “Since we did not have prior years’ data for comparison, we adopted a conservative plan by setting the application deadline for March 1, 2025. The idea was to provide the college with adequate time to budget for a realistic projection of tuition payments in preparation to open in August.”

“We are greatly encouraged by the flow of applications,” adds Dr. William Lipke, director of admissions. As of February 17, over 40 students have been accepted for admission, and over 30 of them have paid enrollment deposits to reserve their seats. This means that relative to its 60-student target, LCC has accepted over two-thirds of its expected enrollment and that over one half of the expected enrollment has paid deposits, with new deposits steadily arriving within a few weeks of acceptance.

Now that LCC’s preliminary deadline of March 1 is just two weeks away, college administrators have decided to open the door to more applicants by extending the deadline. “Enrolling 45 students is a key budgetary target, and we’re roughly there now,” notes Rebekah Bennick, the college’s chief financial officer. “But we have long been planning for 50 to 60 students, and we do have enough seats for 70.”

To accommodate late applicants, the Admissions Department has reset the application deadline to May 1 for full consideration, with rolling admissions thereafter until all available seats are filled.

LCC’s phased admission strategy resulted in seven students making paid deposits last spring while planning to take a “gap year”  as they awaited the college’s opening, followed by sixteen Priority Admission applicants who paid deposits by December. “Our enrollment momentum is really quite remarkable for a new college,” notes Dr. Caleb Karges, dean of students. New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho, opened with four students in 1994. Wyoming Catholic College of Lander, Wyoming, began with 35 students in 2007. While LCC is setting an ambitious target of 50 to 60 students, it maintains a realistic pace by setting May 1 as the full-consideration deadline followed by rolling admissions so long as any of the 70 classroom seats remain open.

Students desiring to join the trailblazing cohort in August may apply here. Meanwhile, high school juniors are invited to participate in live videoconferences with LCC faculty by completing a brief pre-admission form as they begin planning to start college in August 2026.