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Bridgewater College, home to approximately 1,450 students, welcomed more than 500 new faces this academic year. Among the new students are around 450 first-year students, more than 30 transfer students, nearly 30 graduate students and almost a dozen non-degree seeking students.

A member of the Class of 2026, Cooper Hawk is a health and exercise science major from Kitty Hawk and is a graduate of First Flight High School.

The Class of 2026 hails from 19 different states and 16 different countries, boasting BC’s highest international student population in years. The first-year students at BC were heavily active in their schools and communities and hold an average grade point average (GPA) of 3.6.

Of the first-year class, 21% are first-generation – meaning they are the first in their family to attend college – while 58 students have a family member who graduated from BC, part of Bridgewater’s legacy families. Another 26% are recipients of Pell grants, which are awarded to students with exceptional financial need. About one in three BC students are Pell eligible and more than $2 million in Pell grants were awarded to BC students in the preceding academic year.

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college.

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