August 28 kicked off the start of the 2023-2024 school year at Waynesburg University, with the class of 2027 comprised of nearly 400 students.

The freshmen are coming from all corners of the country such as Arizona, California, Texas and Hawaii, according to a press release on the university’s website.

Despite plenty going on for these newest students, returning students, faculty and staff on campus throughout the first week of classes, there is still work being done to have future high school graduates make Waynesburg University their future home as well. One of the first steps in making that a possibility is for the admissions department putting together their first Prospective Student Information Session of the semester. On Saturday, Sept. 9, the undergraduate admissions department are organizing their first of three sessions for those who are currently looking for colleges and universities to attend, with the event going over several facets that go into applying for college, such as information relating to FAFSA, financial aid, choosing your major and getting connected with an admissions advisor.

Robert Barnhart, who serves as the Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions at Waynesburg University, spoke on the purpose of these sessions, and how they complement the larger events that the university also hosts, such as the open houses.

“These ones (Information Sessions) are more solely admissions. Ideally, where we hope to draw the most people are open house events, which we do have two scheduled for the fall. Those are the bigger, weekend visit opportunities at the university.” Barnhart said.

Barnhart also spoke on how these sessions came to pass at Waynesburg, serving as an alternative to the open houses, as they realized not all prospective students would be able to be in attendance for an all day event that the open houses tend to lean towards.

“So a couple of years ago, we decided to roll out the Saturday information sessions as alternatives for the open house dates. Or if the students can come to the open house dates, we can still work better with them, and we try to make more weekend opportunities available.” Barnhart said

When it comes to the process of how the sessions go, Barnhart laid out all that the prospective students go through once they arrive to Miller Hall.

“When somebody comes in for a Saturday Information Session, we typically will register them, we’ll meet up in Alumni Hall, and we’ll get together to chat through admissions and financial aid the application process and we do provide them with a tour of campus and we do typically treat them to lunch,” Barnhart said, wrapping it up as an “abbreviated event” compared to their open house dates.

For students who wish to know more about these information sessions as well as open houses and similar events at Waynesburg, the sign up sheets and flyers can be found on the admissions tab on the university website at https://www.waynesburg.edu/news/waynesburg-u-host-saturday-information-sessions-prospective-students.