ST. LOUIS, MISSIOURI (ANS) -- While the final registration figures for the huge Urbana09 Missions Conference will not be available until the end of week, officials of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship are privately estimating that it will probably reach about 17,000.

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Meanwhile, the official figure for attendance is still based on the pre-registration figure of 16,200 students. This is less than the 20,000 figure that has been used for the last year for logistical planning and goal setting, and a 20% change from the last Urbana in 2006. At that time 20,000 attended.

Urbana Director Jim Tebbe attributes the short fall in attendance to a drop-off in non-student participants such as Global Connections exhibitors, pastors and others. With overall contributions to para-church organizations, churches and missions down for 2009, many ministries decided to cut back on staff attendance for the conference.

Non-student registration for the exhibition staff costs $625 per person and so many mission organizations find that is the only cut they can make. Even a small exhibit on the Global Connections exhibit floor can cost $15,000 to rent, construct and equip. Many mission agencies spend much more on this once every three years missionary recruiting extravaganza.

Among the other programs which have seen significant attendance drop-offs are high school seniors and international students. Both depend heavily on sponsorships from churches and prayer partners to cover the costs of registration and travel. International student attendance, for example is less than half of what was originally projected.

According to Urbana09 staff, the average student raises about $1,000 to register and attend the multi-million dollar conference.

Bill Bray is a frequent contributor to ASSIST News Service and also serves as president of the Overseas Students Mission based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is currently in St. Louis on assignment for ASSIST News to report on the Urbana09 student missions’ conference.