The National Park College (NPC) Board of Trustees discussed preliminary fall enrollment data during the regular monthly meeting Wednesday. NPC’s total headcount for credit and concurrent enrollment is 2,336 students for fall 2022 compared to 2,326 students fall 2021, a slight increase in overall headcount.
Dr. Jerry Thomas, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management shared the fall enrollment report. Credit student enrollment for fall 2022 is 1,826 compared to 1,920 enrolled in 2021 as of the 11th day census count. Semester credit hours for fall 2022 are 21,743 compared to 22,445 for fall 2021. Thomas noted, “The 11th day count showed that we had a 7% increase in new, first-time, full-time students this year. This is great news. Students continue to see the value of attending NPC to pursue a college degree.”
Thomas reported a record number of students living on campus with 231 students in Dogwood Hall this fall. “The additional students living on campus have created a lot of energy and excitement in the Commons and on campus. The residential impact is directly contributing to student success.”
The number of concurrent credit students increased significantly this fall. Concurrent enrollment for fall 2022 is 510 compared to 406 students in fall 2021. This is a 25.6% increase. Significant increases were noted at Fountain Lake, Lake Hamilton and Mountain Pine High Schools. “The support from the high school administrators and parents has been instrumental to increasing participation numbers. Our outreach efforts were effective with encouraging participation. The parents and school districts are really seeing the value of the program,” said Thomas.
Bill Allison, vice president for workforce reported Community and Corporate Training programs served 2,717 students and logged 33,995 contact hours in 2022, compared to 3,220 and 29,940 respectively in 2021. “The decline in head count compared to the nearly flat contact hours illustrates a workforce that is increasing the number of trainings, but have less employees attending the training offerings.” He noted a significant growth in apprenticeship programs. “We are currently at a 58% increase in enrollment compared to fall of 21 and an increase of 40% since the conclusion of the spring semester.”
Adult Education has served 368 students since July 1, compared to approximately 296 in the same time period last fiscal year. This is an increase of about 24%. Adult Education Director, Bill Ritter said, “Because students can enroll in our program at any time, our enrollment will continue to rise throughout the year. Approximately 25 to 30 new students are enrolling in our program each week. If we continue enrolling at the current rate, we anticipate serving about 1,000 students this year.”
National Park Technology Center (NPTC) has 360 students enrolled this semester, an increase of 27 students. NPTC Director, Mike Wiles said 92% of the juniors returned for their senior year at NPTC.
Dr. John Hogan, NPC president shared the College serves approximately 7,000 individuals annually across all of the campus’ programs. “NPC’s vision to provide services to almost 7,000 individuals annually through credit and concurrent instruction, the National Park Technology Center, community and corporate training, and adult education is to promote personal enrichment, economic growth, and community engagement. The result is a variety of quality, affordable learning opportunities that create a pathway for transfer or to the workforce.”
