Students Grow in Self-Awareness: "I'm more outgoing than I thought. . . . I've got to study more than I did in high school. . . . I'm not the best athlete at school anymore - and that's okay. . . . It's fun to express myself in class. . . . My roommate and I can disagree and still be friends. . . . My college friends are very different from my high school friends. . . . I like making my own decisions."

High School Students on Campus: We have almost 300 high schoolers on campus for Focus on Ministry October 24-26 and October 31-November 2.

It's a great time for your students to reconnect with younger friends and do some recruiting as well.

Clouds and Snow: Meteorologists say November is usually the grayest month of the year in our neck of the woods. We've had just a few random snowflakes so far, but students should have their boots handy and their antifreeze topped off in preparation for cold and snowy days, which are fairly common in November.

Campus Busyness: Wrap-up of fall sports . . . start of basketball . . . Into the Woods musical production . . . Readers' Theater rehearsals . . . Wind Symphony and College Choir concerts. . . Presentations and convocations - lots of learning opportunities!

Spread the News! 

MLC #3 in Nation                 Best Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges

MLC earned the #3 slot in Washington Monthly's 2013 "Best Bang-for-the-Buck" Baccalaureate Colleges. Yes, that would be #3 in the whole country! 

This poll is based on colleges' sticker prices, graduation rates, financial assistance for lower-income students, and loan default rates. In laymen's terms, this means that MLC students pay a low price, graduate in huge numbers, and are employed after college, which allows them to pay back any college loans they have accrued.

"This poll is important to us," said VP for Administration Steven Thiesfeldt, "because we never want financial obstacles to stand in the way of a student preparing for gospel ministry. In a country where college debt now outpaces credit card debt and some wonder whether a college degree is worth the cost, we can emphatically say, 'Yes, MLC is worth it. As suggested by the poll, you get the best bang for your buck at MLC.'" 

We are thankful to all WELS congregations whose offerings help fund MLC. We are especially grateful to those donors who go further, giving special gifts to student grants and scholarships. These gifts allows us to provide a high-quality college education at a reasonable price.

Should I Even Be Getting This Newsletter? 

We've had a couple emails from parents of sophomores asking this very question. It's true that this newsletter is geared mostly to parents of first-year students, but enough parents of older students requested it over the years that we decided to send it to everyone. 

You may have noticed that we mark certain articles "First-Year Parents" up in the right-hand corner. If you're a parent of a sophomore, junior, or senior, you can feel free to skip those.

If you'd rather not get the newsletter at all anymore, just let our data management specialist, Tami, know, and we'll take you off this list. You can also "unsubscribe" if you wish, but we want you to know that then you will be unsubscribed from every e-newsletter MLC sends, including the MLC Update.  

MLC KnightWatch is our recruitment magazine, sent to high school students who are interested in MLC. Now that your high school student is a college student, KnightWatch won't be delivered to your house anymore. However, MLC InFocus, our magazine for alumni, parents, and friends of MLC, will be coming to your house! The November issue will hit mailboxes before Thanksgiving.

If you know a high school student who would like to receive the recruitment magazine, MLC KnightWatch, please email Megan Kassuelke with the address of the student, and she'll get them on the mailing list.