Employee Town Hall – February 23

Important Things To Know

Parking

Starting July 1, 2026, faculty and staff will not have to pay for basic parking. You will be able to get a Faculty/Staff parking pass at no charge. Premium parking will still be available for bid in advance of the 2026 Fall semester. Learn more about vehicle registration.

Enrollment and Student Success

Momentum continues across Residential, LUO, and LUOA. Year‑to‑date headcount is 156,343 students, up from 145,528 at the same point last year, reflecting healthy demand and strong student engagement. In Fall 2025 alone, students completed 325,518 courses, a powerful indicator of persistence at scale.

Academic performance remains steady. Residential students averaged a 3.30 GPA in 2024–25 (3.29 in 2023–24), while LUO averaged 3.15 (up from 3.11). Degree completion also continues to climb year‑to‑date, with 823 Residential degrees conferred and approximately 9,400 through LUO, compared with 807 and 9,000, respectively, last year. Behind every number is a student served, and a team of employees making progress possible.

SACSCOC Accreditation

The SACSCOC On‑Site Committee will be on campus from March 30 to April 2 as part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process. The visit centers on institutional compliance with SACSCOC requirements, including applicable Core Requirements, Comprehensive Standards, and Federal Requirements.

During the visit, key representatives across the University will participate in scheduled meetings, interviews, and conversations with the Committee related to their respective areas. This is our opportunity to highlight the work happening every day across the institution, how we document it, improve it, and align it with student success. We want to recognize the IER team, along with the many offices that have contributed evidence, reviewed standards, and strengthened processes. More logistical guidance will be shared as schedules are finalized.

Strategic Plan Update

As of the end of November 2025, execution is performing ahead of schedule, with overall progress estimated at more than 27% complete, and new items continue to be added each quarter as the plan evolves. To increase transparency and precision, the former single 5‑year completion goal has been separated into five annual benchmarks. This improves year‑over‑year reporting, even though it also shifted the percent‑complete compared with earlier rollups.

This academic year, we expect at least 1,029 items in the plan, with quarterly status updates and a regular cadence of reporting to the President, Board of Trustees, and divisional leaders. Most importantly, we’ve launched an environmental scan pilot so every employee can be a strategic influencer, sharing observations that become trends, insights, and better decisions for the University.

Updates on Health Insurance and Wellness

At our last Town Hall meeting, many of you asked questions about specific benefits and wanted more information about how we come up with the benefit packages we offer.

Liberty determines its benefit offerings by benchmarking against peer institutions and local employers using tools such as the Aon Benefits Index, along with employee feedback and market comparisons. Since 2022, the university has made the following updates to benefits for eligible employees:

• Additional vacation time
• Faculty flexible PTO
• University‑paid life & long‑term disability coverage
• Adoption and infertility benefits
• Expanded parental and maternity leave
• Extended Christmas break
• New education discounts
• Addition of the MLK holiday
• LU Send Disaster Response Team leave

As we review our benefits, there is a reality that rising healthcare costs are an issue at Liberty University. Over the next 5 years, the university is expecting its medical costs to increase by over $50 million, bringing our total healthcare spend to over $100 million. Contributing factors include deferred preventive screenings, lower compliance levels for key conditions, and high‑cost chronic conditions that account for 66% of total claims. Starting on July 1st of 2026, we’re planning on making medical plan changes that increase both deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. These plan changes are being made to help control costs, and we’re sharing this information now as part of our commitment to Healthy Communication and proactive transparency. The charts below help explain the changes.

Employee Wellness

Need More Information or Help?