Classes start on Aug. 30 for Southeastern University in Lakeland, a private Christian liberal arts university that has seen dramatic growth in recent years.

  • School will have around 7,000 students this fall
  • 4,000 will take classes online or at extension campuses
  • University has hired around 300 adjunct professors

For Fall 2017, the university will have a student body of about 7,000 students. Of that number, 3,000 will attend classes on its main campus, while the other 4,000 will take classes online or at 80 extension campuses around the country.
 
“I don’t think there’s a limit to it,” said university president Kent Ingle about the non-traditional locations, which he believes make obtaining a college degree possible for many people. “When you look at culture and society in terms of affordability, the cost and coming to a traditional campus, it’s just difficult for a lot of students to do."
 
One of the extension style campuses is at Grace Family Church in Lutz. Students taking classes there, like freshman Victoria Walter, can work towards an AA degree.

“I was thinking digital arts and graphic design,” she said. “After that, I can go to the main SEU campus.”
 
Serving all of the remote students has required the university to hire about a hundred people in recent years to work at its main campus. The operation has grown so fast, in fact, that workers serving the remote students work out of modular offices.

The university has also hired about 300 adjunct professors to work at the extension campuses.

“It has really been tremendous as far as the operation,” said vice president Nick Wallsteadt.