Miles Community College has announced that they are projecting a fifth consecutive year of overall enrollment growth.
The total college-wide projected enrollment for the 2018 fall semester is 506, which is up from 459 students (10.2%) at the start of the 2017 fall semester. Similarly, the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment is 393.67, up from 373.93 a year ago (5.3%).
Enrollment has been on the rise at MCC over the past few years, with annual enrollment numbers increasing steadily since fiscal year 2014. With the fall semester increase, and an increase of over 40% in FTE for the summer 2018 term, MCC is on track to again surpass its annualized enrollment targets. In the fall of 2014, enrollment was at 421 with an FTE of 327.2, resulting in an approximately 20% increase in both headcount and FTE over the past five years. Montana resident numbers are among the largest increase with total headcount of 435 compared to 348 in 2014, a 25% increase.
Dean of Enrollment Management and Educational Support Services, Erin Niedge is excited about the growth, “Strong enrollment numbers can’t happen without campus wide collaboration – quality academic programs, active and involved athletic teams, and new and innovative enrollment strategies and engagement initiatives. Many people across campus worked incredibly hard to make this enrollment increase happen.”
This is an impressive increase with MCC bucking the state and national trends of overall enrollment decline.
“Miles Community College is proud of our continued enrollment growth,” commented MCC President Dr. Stacy Klippenstein. “Our Montana resident student enrollment has grown by 25% over the past five years. Regional high school students see the value in our dual enrollment offerings and we see more interest in most of our academic programs, including Nursing and Agriculture. People recognize our value and academic quality and that they can actually start here and go anywhere.”
Miles Community College continues to utilize strategic enrollment management planning to identify opportunities and project areas of growth for the future.
