houstonbrave
Well-known member
But the Civic Center and Peoria need all - its not either or….
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Good news - Bradley University's incoming Freshman Enrollment
- Thread starter yoda
- Start date
Bradley and Rivermen games produce quite a few hotel night rooms from just visiting teams alone. The folks that come to Bradley and Rivermen games spend a lot of money at the concession stands. Hell, there is even a ton of money left on the table in concessions by the poor staffing at any Rivermen or Bradley game over about 4000 in attendance.
Historically the Rivermen games had a higher per cap concession number than the Bradley games. I'd assume thats partly because the Rivermen are always playing on the weekends versus Bradley playing about half their games on weekday nights. Bradley pays A LOT more than the Rivermen in catering/hospitality bills as well.
In the grand scheme of things, there are very few concerts in the arena over the course of the year. The vast majority are not close to sell outs.
$0.00 rent for Bradley basketball!
Amen
and for the record....
The Rivermen set their all time home attendance record LAST YEAR in 2024-25 - at 123,173 fans total
How the Peoria Rivermen went from near-exit to breaking attendance record
“It’s been an amazing transformation over at least the last four years since I’ve been here.”
www.25newsnow.com
Their average attendance was slightly DOWN this past season, 2025-26, 4,399 --> 4,253
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I was looking at the year before. The 144, 000 included the playoffs this year.Amen
and for the record....
The Rivermen set their all time home attendance record LAST YEAR in 2024-25 - at 123,173 fans total
How the Peoria Rivermen went from near-exit to breaking attendance record
“It’s been an amazing transformation over at least the last four years since I’ve been here.”
Their average attendance was slightly DOWN this past season, 2025-26, 4,399 --> 4,253
Forbes just revealed their ratings for colleges and universities (private)....
Bradley University made an enormous jump from the last rating - thanks to the initiatives of President Shadid
and the improved enrollment.
Better than Drake, the other MVC private schools, Marquette, Georgetown and a lot of other top Universities.
www.forbes.com
www.25newsnow.com
Bradley University made an enormous jump from the last rating - thanks to the initiatives of President Shadid
and the improved enrollment.
Better than Drake, the other MVC private schools, Marquette, Georgetown and a lot of other top Universities.
Forbes College Financial Grades 2026
Forbes annual College Financial Grades assesses the financial health of more than 900 private not-for-profit colleges with enrollment of more than 500 students.
www.forbes.com
Forbes gives Bradley University a higher financial grade this year
Forbes has released their 2026 report card for the financial state of private colleges.
www.25newsnow.com
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update....President Shadid is coming through with his promises....
indeed new student enrollment is up by almost 30%,
600 new freshmen moved in on the Saturday move-in day plus there's locals who don't move in on campus and other new students with off-campus housing. The total of new students is expected to be well above 1,000.
We will know the exact numbers in a couple weeks -
"the university plans to release its official incoming class enrollment figure in mid-September following completion of the third-week census."
Note that Forbes increased their financial ratings of Bradley from a "C" to an "A-" - LINK
Bradley is rated a TOP 40 Value among all Universities nationally - LINK
Princeton Review rates Bradley even higher- LINK
Wall Street Journal likewise- LINK
Did anyone here live in Harper Hall? - LINK
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Stryker
Well-known member
Shadid taught a business class I was in at Bradley almost 20 years ago. While I'm not politically aligned with him in some regards, I was confident he would do a great job as President of the school. Hoping he can weather the upcoming AI storm and other challenges facing colleges.
To be fair, last year, ISU's 2025 enrollment was the highest in at least the last 15 years. The 2026 enrollment did drop by 417, but it is still their second-highest enrollment in that time period.
ISU enrollment falls for first time in 5 years as enrollment cliff arrives; IWU headcount nears 1,700
Leaders at both Bloomington-Normal universities say they're pleased with their fall enrollment numbers as they confront the long-dreaded "demographic cliff."
www.wglt.org
The trend among the state Universities in Illinois over the last 20+ years has been mostly down, as it has for many private schools.
This graph shows enrollment trends at the 12 state universities in Illinois since 2005-
Sir, this is a Bradley fan site - being fair to ISU is not allowed.
The actual numbers are still pending but in his recent podcast Coach Wardle said-
"We have one of the biggest incoming freshman classes ever"
..also possibly will we see a future home & home with Toledo since we have on our roster the son of the Toledo head coach?
Bradley receives excellent ranking again
In that same US News ranking, UC-Davis came in at #8 nationally among all public schools
www.ucdavis.edu
U.S. News Elevates UC Davis’ Ranking, Recognizing Excellence and Value
The University of California, Davis, now ranks as the eighth-best public university in the United States in U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges rankings, up from ninth place last year and the university’s sixth consecutive year in the top 10.
www.ucdavis.edu
Mikovio
Active member
From President Shadid:
I am pleased to share encouraging news about Bradley’s progress. Recent national rankings continue to recognize the strength and value of a Bradley education. U.S. News & World Report once again placed us among the nation’s top 200 universities in its 2027 Best Colleges rankings. The Princeton Review included Bradley in its 2027 edition of The Best 392 Colleges, ranking Bradley among the top 14% of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities, and Money gave us 4.5 out of 5 stars in its 2026 Best Colleges in America.
Our fall enrollment numbers are now official, and they also offer a clear sign of the momentum we’re building at Bradley. This academic year we welcomed 1,160 new students this fall, including 876 first-year students, 180 transfer students and 104 graduate students. That’s an increase of more than 36% in first-year students and 20% in transfer students compared with last fall.
Our new first year students have a combined grade point average of 3.84, and enroll from 449 different high schools in 30 different states and 17 different countries. Transfer students come from 15 different states, Puerto Rico, and seven countries, and new graduate students arrive from 19 different states and 17 different countries.
I am pleased to share encouraging news about Bradley’s progress. Recent national rankings continue to recognize the strength and value of a Bradley education. U.S. News & World Report once again placed us among the nation’s top 200 universities in its 2027 Best Colleges rankings. The Princeton Review included Bradley in its 2027 edition of The Best 392 Colleges, ranking Bradley among the top 14% of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities, and Money gave us 4.5 out of 5 stars in its 2026 Best Colleges in America.
Our fall enrollment numbers are now official, and they also offer a clear sign of the momentum we’re building at Bradley. This academic year we welcomed 1,160 new students this fall, including 876 first-year students, 180 transfer students and 104 graduate students. That’s an increase of more than 36% in first-year students and 20% in transfer students compared with last fall.
Our new first year students have a combined grade point average of 3.84, and enroll from 449 different high schools in 30 different states and 17 different countries. Transfer students come from 15 different states, Puerto Rico, and seven countries, and new graduate students arrive from 19 different states and 17 different countries.
Incoming new students dropping well under 700 under previous administrations, now we can safely say that President Shadid is doing an incredible job.
1,160 new students
876 first-year (incoming freshman) students
An increase of more than 36% in first-year students and 20% in transfer students compared with last fall
LINK
History- Bradley's freshman enrollment had always been 1,000 to 1,250 and some years higher but tanked under Glasser
to just 900 in 2014 & 2015. It then rebounded nicely under President Roberts- back up to a record high of over 1,250.
Likewise total enrollment.
But everything went down under Standifird to near record low numbers (LINK). He practically ran Bradley into the ground.
(Standifird was responsible for another disaster but that's a different story...)
Nice to see President Shadid accomplishing what he promised to do.
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Which is?
Getting enrollment back to sustainable levels
(Just read the references linked)
Welcome James E. Shadid As Our New Leadership - Bradley University
Native Peorian is Bradley University’s 13th President
