NWACC spring enrollment declines slightly, high school student numbers up

NorthWest Arkansas Community College enrolled 7,181 credit students for the spring 2016 semester, down 1.7% from student enrollment a year ago, according to college officials. The unofficial preliminary count was taken on the 11th day of class as required by the Department of Higher Education.

Steven Hinds, executive director of public relations and marketing, said the slight decrease in total enrollment was projected by college leaders when calculating the 2015-16 budget. Leaders had budgeted for a 3% decline for the entire academic year, which is typical during periods of full-employment.

One bright spot in the data was the 13.4% increase in the number of high school students enrolled concurrently in classes at the college .There were 808 high school students enrolled in NWACC classes this spring compared with 713 students enrolled last spring. The college’s Early College Experience Program has seen significant growth in recent years, increasing by 73% over the past five years.

The number of student semester credit hours for the spring 2016 semester is 63,169 decreasing from 65,140 for the spring 2015 semester. The college saw a modest increase of 4% in the number of new freshmen as 325 new freshmen enrolled for the spring 2016 semester.

NWACC also showed an increased in the number of online classes year-over-year. This spring, the college has 283 distance learning sections, compared to 275 distance learning sections last spring.