Welcome, Class of 2020!
McKendree University welcomed the largest and most diverse student body in its 188-year
history, with the arrival of 470 new first-year students and 120 new transfer students.
Eighty percent of first-year students have received an academic scholarship; 47 percent
of them graduated in the top 25 percent of their high school class and many were valedictorians.
Collectively, the Class of 2020 has an average grade point of 3.5. most McKendree
first-year students—91 percent—are living in campus housing.
Continuing a trend, more new Bearcats have come from out of state. While twothirds,
or 66 percent, of the Class of 2020 are from Illinois, several others represent 28
states and 20 countries, including Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Cayman Islands, France,
Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Serbia, South
Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
