TRAVERSE CITY, MI -- Northwestern Michigan College this month broke another record, enrolling more students for a Spring semester than ever before. The achievement means that NMC now has broken enrollment records every semester since Fall 2008. Enrollment for Spring 2011 is 5,194, a two-percent increase over last spring. Spring enrollment has grown 20 percent in the last three years. Also this month, the college's annual Campaign for Scholarships and Programs announced that it has reached its largest goal ever, raising more than $400,000 so far. The campaign continues through June 30.
"Because the need for aid continues to increase, we know our work is not done," said Paul Maurer, who with Bonnie Alfonso serves as volunteer co-chair of the annual Campaign for Scholarships and Programs.The number of financial aid applications has gone up more than one-third in the last two years. NMC, thanks to local donors, continues to award more scholarship dollars to more students than any other community college in Michigan. Despite the enrollment growth, NMC has not added significantly to its staffing, except where needed to add courses and maintain small class sizes. NMC's average class size is 20 students.
The record enrollment is not without its challenges. NMC tuition covers roughly half of the cost of an NMC education. The rest comes from state aid and local property taxes, which do not increase when enrollment goes up. In fact, NMC's state appropriation has dropped more than $750,000 since 2001-02. "NMC continues to serve more students, with the same quality education and service, without dramatically increasing our tuition or staffing," said NMC President Timothy J. Nelson. "That means we continue to become more efficient."
NMC does not anticipate that enrollment will drop, in part due to new programs such as Freshwater Studies, Renewable Energy and Hybrid Automotive Technology, and in part because NMC's tuition increases in the last several years have been far less than those of four-year universities. "Our faculty and staff have done an incredible job of saving money while continuing to meet the needs of our learners," Nelson said. "And we are proud and humbled that the community has recognized the need to increase support for our annual Campaign for Scholarships and Programs. Many of our students would not be here if it weren't for the generous people in our community." Maurer said that, because of the increased need, the annual Campaign for Scholarships and Programs will continue through June 30.
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