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Northeast hits record enrollment
Published Tuesday, September 1, 2009
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
BOONEVILLE ‹ Enrollment at Northeast Mississippi Community College has reached a record high this fall, an achievement college officials believe has been fueled by increased recruiting efforts and a difficult economy that has caused many people to reevaluate their need for higher education.
The college had 3,707 students enrolled when registration ended for the current semester. This marks a 275 student increase over the previous record set in the fall of 2007 and a 405 student boost over last year's figure.
NEMCC President Dr. Johnny Allen said it's impossible to attribute the rise in enrollment to any single factor, but he believes the college's efforts to recruit more students have played a major role.
He said the school's adminstrators and staff have worked hard to get the word out about opportunities offered by the college and about the importance of higher education for success in today's economy. Allen said it's clear that, more than ever before, education beyond the high school level is necessary for workers to obtain quality, high-paying jobs.
The president said he also believes the economic downturn has led more people to return to school to change careers or upgrade their skills to pursue a better career.
Allen also pointed to another number as an example of the school's success in not only bringing in more students but also ensuring they achieve their goals. Students are currently enrolled in a total of 52,285 credit hours for the fall semester.
The credit hour figure indicates how many classes are actually being taken and the fall semester figure is up 6,411 hours over the total for fall 2007.
The college president said the increase is a sign that students are heedingthe school's message encouraging them to take more than the minimum number of classes required in order to move ahead with their studies and achieve their goals.
Allen said he's extremely proud of the college's adminstrators, faculty and staff members for working together to bring in a record number of students and efficiently meet the needs of those students.
"Our entire staff is to be commended for coming together to produce a record setting enrollment for the fall 2009 semester. I saw individuals volunteering to assist colleagues who would have been otherwise over whelmed at times. I witnessed excellent customer service practiced all over campus despite the large number of enrollees," he said. "These are the actions of servant leaders providing support for others."
