Lincoln University appears to be holding its own in the competition for students.
"Our revenues have exceeded our goals this year, as well as our recruitment efforts," Chief of Staff Jerome Offord told LU curators last week.
President Kevin Rome will finish his second year at Lincoln on June 1 and - like his predecessor, Carolyn Mahoney - thinks 5,000 students is a realistic target in the foreseeable future.
LU welcomed more than 400 first-time college students in 2013 and more than 500 students as classes began late last summer.
"They have a new goal of 600 freshmen for next year," Offord reported.
The Jefferson City-based school is about to launch a marketing campaign aimed at about 80,000 potential students around the country, he reminded the board.
But even before that starts, Offord said, "Thus far, the admissions staff has processed 2,780 applications, compared to this time last year of 1,986."
Rome told the curators: "We actually have to hire additional staff to process the applications, because we can't process the number of applications we have with our current staff."
Rome also said: "There is great interest in LU all over the country - we don't have a problem attracting students."
He told the News Tribune: "We're focused on enrollment and customer service and quality and all those things that are so critical to the success of a university.
"I'm not saying that people didn't focus on those in the past, but we have this renewed energy - and it's paying off for us."
Rome said Lincoln's current success is more than just an improving economy around the country.
"If you look at many schools, they're concerned about enrollment. So we are fortunate," he said. "I think it's committed people committed to change and committed to making things better."
The United States has about 4,600 public and private degree-granting colleges and universities, making a lot of competition for one small, state-owned historically black college or university (HBCU) in the middle of Missouri.
"I think we can sustain the effort," Rome said. "We can't control the outcomes, but we can control the effort, and our effort is going to move forward as mightily as possible."
Like other schools, Rome points to the "quality education, the quality of our faculty (and) the dedication of our staff" as strong attractions for students.
"And it's very reasonably priced - and cost is a grave concern to many people today," he added. "But, when you can get a great education at a reasonable price - really, our doors should be busting open."
And that's one of the selling points LU officials hope the new marketing campaign can make.
Lincoln was founded in 1866 as a school to teach basic educational skills to freed slaves and other African Americans who long had been denied the right to learn how to read and write.
But, Rome said, in the 21st century, Lincoln is more than just a historically black college.
"If you walk on our campus, you know that the majority of our students are not black," he noted. "We're one of the few HBCUs that fall into this category - but we're a diverse institution.
"We have a diverse faculty, diverse staff, diverse students and we represent this country."
Two decades ago, then-President Wendell Rayburn argued Lincoln was one of the "most-integrated" schools in the nation.
Rome said that still is true.
"It's a true reality of the world that exists," Rome said, "and, when our students leave here, they're better prepared to deal with the real world.
"So, if anything, it should make us better because we're representative of this country."