Mic, a news website geared toward young people, rated Liberty No. 1 in growth of admissions applications. Over the past decade, the number of applications to Liberty University has increased exponentially, eclipsing the increase in applications of Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale by more than 900 percent.
Liberty’s emerging popularity is attributed to an innovative approach to higher education that emphasizes strategic cost containment, stringent academic standards, and degree programs designed to respond to the changing job market. As the world’s largest Christian university, Liberty strives to prepare students with both the skills to succeed and the work ethic that employers are looking for.
For nearly a quarter of a century, Liberty has been a pioneer in online education, allowing non-traditional learners around the world access to the same quality programs as residential students. Overall enrollment has increased from 64,000 in 2010 to more than 100,000 today. Liberty is now the largest private, nonprofit four-year college in the country, the nation’s fifth largest university, and the largest college in Virginia.
Google, the world’s most prominent search engine, listed Liberty among the top 20 most searched-for universities in 2014. At No. 17, Liberty placed right behind No. 15 Harvard University and No. 16 University of Cambridge, and ahead of schools such as the University of Michigan.
“It is exciting to see Liberty counted among Google’s 20 most searched-for universities in the world,” President Jerry Falwell said. “We are proud that Liberty’s success in making quality education affordable and accessible across a wide diversity of academic disciplines is bringing international attention to the university.”
