Northwest sets record enrollment
By Nancy Patterson | 8/26/09

Two days into Northwest Mississippi Community College’s late registration period, on Aug. 18, college officials celebrated when enrollment soared past last year’s record of 7,172, hitting 8,000.  At the end of the week, final figures showed 8,364 students enrolled for the fall semester—a 16.6 percent increase over last year’s record- setting figure.

When Anne Elizabeth Shepard of Batesville, a general college major taking four classes online completed the process, she was surprised to learn that she was the 8,000th student.  Shepard and her mother were greeted in the President’s Office the following day and presented with a gift certificate to the Ranger Bookstore and a gift bag.

A home-schooled student, Shepard says she chose Northwest for online classes because it was close to home and affordable.   Those factors  may have helped in the decisions of the other 8,000 plus students who are enrolled this semester.

According to figures released by the college’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, there were 3,163 students registered on the Senatobia campus, up 322 over fall ’08 figures. At DeSoto Center, now the largest campus by head count, there are 3,248, up 460 over last fall. On the Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center campus, 1,395 students registered, up 291 from the same period a year ago.

Now counted as its own “campus” Northwest virtual classes are setting records. Northwest’s eLearning enrollment is up 29 percent with 2,401 students taking at least one online class, according to Phyllis Johnson, director of eLearning. There are 558 students taking only virtual classes. According to Johnson, Northwest now has a virtual faculty of 90 instructors teaching 265 courses.

“I think this trend toward growth in virtual college is here to stay,”  said Johnson. “It fits well with the non-traditional student who can’t get off work to attend classes during the day, and it also fits into the schedule of the traditional student who may just need one class to complete his or her schedule.”

Big news for Northwest is the increase in credit hours, which is part of the community college funding formula. This fall, Northwest has a total of 106,181 credit hours—15,143 more than last year at this time.

Northwest President, Dr. Gary Lee Spears, is thrilled with the college enrollment. “After all these years, I still get excited about the beginning of school,” he told faculty at a system-wide gathering Aug. 10 in Senatobia. “I’m especially excited about this year which is shaping up to be one of the best years in Northwest history.”

Spears’ excitement comes from the newly-announced record enrollment and the opening of two new educational facilities on the Senatobia campus—the three-story addition to the Physical Science Building and the Early Childhood Education Technology building. Renovation to the college’s historical James P. McCormick Administration Building is nearing completion, and construction of the new nursing facility is progressing on schedule. At Oxford, a new annex to house the center’s cosmetology department and faculty offices is getting final touches before it is ready for occupancy.

“Students in this district are choosing Northwest,” Dr. Spears told members of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors at a meeting Aug. 18. “I’m so glad that we are able to provide those services, whether it is to the student right out of high school or to the worker who has lost his or her job and needs to return to college for retraining. Educating and putting people back to work—that’s our calling.”

Dr. Eric Clark, executive director, State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, agrees with Dr. Spears assessment. “Preliminary enrollment numbers show dramatic increases in the number of students attending Mississippi’s community colleges this fall. Especially when the economy turns down, our enrollment goes up,” said Clark.

“That is because a community college education is a great value—we are close to home wherever you live, and we teach the job skills that prepare our citizens to make a good living for their families. Our community colleges are the key to helping Mississippi come out of the recession faster and stronger.”

Top