The campus at Steinbach Bible College came alive yesterday as the summer break ended.

It's back to school for students. SBC President Rob Reimer said students who are in dorm arrived yesterday during the day and enjoyed an evening barbeque and some games. Orientation is set for today and classes begin Wednesday. Reimer is pleased with enrollment figures.

"We're looking at enrollment that is virtually identical to what we had a year ago. In fact, we're maybe just a hair up from what we were. Numbers-wise it is somewhere around 105 to 110 students. Our retention rates have just been growing each and every year for the last four or five years which speaks volumes to the quality of program that we're offering. We're just thrilled to be able to see that. And, new students continue to come in."

Reimer adds there are two new programs this year; one is a three-year Bachelor of Arts online.

"So you can get a full BA without ever coming to SBC. And we already have students who are applying from as far away as southern Ontario, Texas and places in between."

The other new program is a four-month discipleship program that begins in January and will involve some travel overseas.

Reimer says while most SBC students are from the southeastern Manitoba, there are some from other parts of Canada as well as South and Central America, Korea, Ukraine and Africa.