Enrollment up nearly 6 percent

Friday, October 17, 2008

NORTH PLATTE -- Wednesday, Mid-Plains Community College reported 2,788 full and part-time students taking 21,452 credit hours this fall. The MPCC Fall 2008 Enrollment Report indicates a 5.97 percent increase over the same day last year.

The report was released on Wednesday to Dr. Michael Chipps, President of MPCC, by Marcus Garstecki, Area Dean of Enrollment Management. According to Mr. Garstecki, the information is based on an Oct. 15 snapshot comparison between the Fall-07 and the Fall-08 terms.

This year's report indicates that the college has 162 more students than on the same date a year ago. When categorized, the data indicates 134 more full-time students (those taking 12 or more credit hours during a semester) and 28 more part-time students. (These headcount numbers are slightly inflated as a few students take coursework from multiple campuses.)

When broken down by each college, McCook Community College has 48 more full-time students, but 34 fewer part-time students, indicating a "total headcount" increase of 14 students. North Platte Community College shows 89 more full-time and 44 more part-time students, resulting in an increase of 133 students. The remainder came from the college's four extended campuses. Ogallala is reporting an increase of 35 students, Broken Bow shows an additional 11 students, Imperial indicates 15 fewer students, and Valentine is showing 16 fewer than last year.

"Reporting enrollments at the community college level is complicated," said Patricia Allison, Area Vice President for Educational Services and Student Development. "The numbers can and do change daily," she added. Ms. Allison oversees enrollment management operations for the college. "While K-12 schools typically have the same students daily, and most universities start their classes in traditional 16-week fall and spring semesters, MPCC can begin and end classes literally every day and night."

For example, the college will soon begin their second series of "for credit" classes within the fall term. Last year, the second session had already started by Oct. 15, so headcounts and credit hours were included. They will finish up in about eight weeks. In other cases, the college may present a class such as "a one-day CPR class" that will meet for eight hours on a Saturday. It begins and ends on the same day.

"We may be able to count 15 students, but if the class lasts for eight hours and is only a .5 credit class, we can only add a collective 7.5 credit hours. This makes it difficult to interpret enrollment data," Allison said. "So we conduct three snapshot dates to compare the same day from the prior year in the fall, spring and summer. It simply tells us what our numbers are as compared to the same date last year. We then can dig down into the data to evaluate the increase or decrease. While the only real totals that count are what we end up with on June 30th of each year, it certainly helps in our planning processes."

Over the past few years, the college has begun paying more attention to the number of credit hours collectively taken by students. This is important because credit hours drive the amount of revenue returned to the college in the form of state reimbursement which makes up more than 40 percent of the college's budget revenue. According to the snapshot report, the college is showing a 1,334 increase in credit hours or an additional 6.64 percent in full-time equivalent (FTE) from the same comparative date a year ago.

According to Ryan Purdy, MPCC's Associate Vice-President of Administrative Services, while the snapshot date reports are certainly useful indicators, the important enrollment numbers are derived from the annual Full-Time Equivalent Audit performed each August by independent auditors. "Our year-end numbers are incorporated into the state's community college funding formula which then determines our state aid," he said.

"While we continue to be pleased with the good work that our enrollment management staff is doing in recruiting students, our continued focus is on student success and retention" said Dr. Chipps. "It is vital that we continue to seek ways to attract more students to our college and retain them. It is our belief that if we can continue to provide a quality learning environment, our graduates will be successful and their success will provide the foundation for rural economic stability."

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