Mid Plains enrollment declines slightly

North Platte, Nebraska -- At the Mid-Plains Community College Board of Governors meeting on Nov. 16, Kelly Rippen, MPCC's new Dean of Enrollment Management, reported on the college's enrollments for the 2010-11 year.

Rippen reported that the college had a slight decrease of 41 less Full Time Equivalent credits in overall enrollments from last year. (See Graph No. 1: FTE 5 years) She reminded the Board that students completed a record number of student credit hours in 2009-10. And, while this year is still the second highest number of FTE ever recorded, it was still slightly less than last year.

She also told the Board that the slight dip in the college's FTE numbers almost exactly mirrors the national level enrollments. They, too, showed a very slight decrease from 2009-10 to 2010-11. (See attached Graph No. 1: FTE 5 years)

In MPCC's Area-wide headcount, the college had 30 less full-time students, but 253 more part-time students. These full-time and part-time numbers seem to be dependent on MPCC's regional economy and employment. When unemployment is higher, the college tends to see more full-time students. When lower, the enrollments typically reflect higher numbers of part-time students. (See table 2.)

Table 2: Headcounts:

Rippen told the Board that there were a number of other interesting and positive signs of enrollment growth at MPCC. For example, the enrollment headcount from bordering states has increased 58 percent since 2009, when the college began offering in-state tuition to those students residing in bordering states (Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa). This reflected an increase from 29 students to 43 students in 2010-11. Rippen told the Board that there are 46 border-state students currently enrolled at MPCC.

Rippen also told the Board that the recruiters, Enrollment Management staff, and the Public Information and Marketing Departments are committed to seeking new and better ways to increase enrollments. Those areas she listed will be priorities for her team and the college in general. They include:

* Further involvement and implementation in campus-specific Non-Traditional Student Organizations.

* Increase appearances in regional area career fairs

* Create better letter flow to Center for Enterprise Students

* The exploration of a Senior College -- programming targeted at seniors and retirement aged learners

* Identify additional technical student populations

* Continue to partner with MPCC faculty in program recruitment efforts

* Increase on-site technical tours and community sponsored Career Days

* Further develop recruiting strategies targeted at students from service area bordering counties and bordering state schools

* Establish partnerships with MPCC's Center for Enterprise and coordinate a step-by-step process for students enrolled in the CFE academy to continue their enrollment as Associate of Occupational Studies students.

* Seek new program development and establish new markets that are competitive with other community colleges

* Develop and increase Dual Credit recruitment opportunities for high school students through Recruiter/Advisor presentations to Distance Learning/Dual Credit classes that will show them what their completed credit class efforts have earned them at MPCC

* Assist faculty in the recruiting process by making recruitment materials and staff available for training and collaborative efforts.

* Complete automation of computerized contact sequence/letter flow system that is designed to generate contact for multiple populations: Juniors, Seniors, Non-Traditional Students, FAFSA senders, online students, etc.

* Continue to develop strategies for student success and retention with Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) Retention Committee

* Work closely with Enrollment Management and Student Success Centers staff to effectively re-recruit and retain students from one semester to the next

According to Dr. Michael Chipps, President of Mid-Plains Community College, "Community college enrollments are quite different from determining enrollments at other colleges and universities. Public schools, and in many cases four-year colleges and universities, generally take their enrollment figures at the start of each semester and the figures typically don't change very much. However, here at MPCC we are offering and completing classes almost constantly, and therefore, growing our enrollments throughout the college year."

"We can only compare enrollments from previous year until June 30, the end of the college's fiscal year. So throughout the year, we continually monitor our enrollments through a series of enrollment snapshots during periodic intervals," he continued. "The snapshot report will provide an enrollment figure that I will compare against the exact same day within the semester from a year ago, knowing that the possibility exists that a few hours later new classes may begin and the enrollment numbers will be increased. Our ability to respond to rapidly changing educational and training needs of our constituency is one of the many wonderful features we can provide at Mid-Plains Community College. We are proud to be one of America's dynamic new learning opportunity institutions."