Cedarville University’s enrollment reached 3,465 this fall, setting a record for the 125-year Christian college, even as the number of students attending public schools in Ohio fell 31,600 as several switched to semesters, fewer students are eligible for federal financial aid and more choose work over education.

The private university gained 175 students this year, continuing an upward trend Cedarville has seen since it simplified and increased financial aid three years ago, said Janice Supplee, vice president of enrollment management.

Cedarville attributes also its bump in enrollment to its new degree offerings, including the professional pharmacy program launched this year, and its Christ-center focused.

“The mission and distinction of who we are allows us to reach out to a certain student nationally,” Supplee said, noting the school draws two-thirds of its students from outside Ohio, so it is not impacted as heavily by a declining number of high school graduates in the state.

Students at Cedarville must profess their faith in Jesus to be admitted.

“There’s just something about the atmosphere here,” said 22-year-old student Rebecca Widder. “There’s an attitude of caring here on campus that I haven’t found anywhere else. It flows out of our faith. We care about the people around us.”

Wilder, an Illinois native, is a member of the first professional pharmacy class. The program will add 50 to 60 students every year, Supplee said.

The university began also offering a master of science in nursing degree last year, and a fully online master of education that launched in June. School leadership also envisions having the entire general education program available online in the future, according to the university.

This year, Cedarville has 3,231 undergraduates and 234 graduate students, Supplee said. Next year, Cedarville anticipates another year of record enrollment. The school will offer $1.6 million more in financial aid and academic awards in 2013, offering $23.4 million to students. This week, the university also announced it received an $800,000 donation for an endowed scholarship fund.

“We would like to continue to grow. We kind of describe it as moderate, managed growth,” Supplee said. “We want to be very careful that our enrollment doesn’t outgrow our ability to serve those students really well.”

Independent schools in Ohio are seeing varying trends in enrollment, said C. Todd Jones, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio.

“Cedarville has been growing for several years, and I think the answer is really straightforward: They have high quality programs in areas of demand. They have good leadership. They have a focused academic vision for what a college education should be, and it’s appealing to a lot of people,” Jones said.