In a year when education is facing some of the toughest budget battles in recent history, Northwest Mississippi Community College administrators remain optimistic, especially when they are able to celebrate one record enrollment after the next.

After the late registration period ended, there were a record 7,955 students enrolled for the Spring 2010 semester on all college campuses.

“I’m thrilled with this enrollment,” said Northwest President, Dr. Gary Lee Spears, who is serving his fifth year as president of the college. “This next year will also have its challenges. Tax revenues are down everywhere, and our appropriations are being cut and will probably be cut some more. 

“It will be a year when we must all work together and do the very best we can with what we are given,” he added.  “I have no doubt that we can face this economic challenge and emerge even stronger.”

The largest campus, enrollment-wise, is DeSoto Center with 3,095 students registered, up 372 from last spring. The Senatobia campus is next with 2,932 students, showing an increase of 317. Lafayette-Yalobusha Technical Center has 1,359 for an increase of 278.

Even though many non-traditional students are choosing Northwest, the average age of students has dropped from 26 last spring to 25 this semester.  More traditionally-aged students are choosing Northwest.

“I absolutely love Northwest,” said accountancy major Gregory Steadman of Nesbit,

who is the HEADWAE (higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic

Excellence) student for 2010. “It is a great place to start a college career for several reasons. The tuition is affordable, the classes are small, the staff is extremely helpful and understanding of the student’s situations. Attending Northwest is the best college decision I could have made.”

On-line classes are really taking off, according to director of eLearning Phyllis Johnson. There are 2,560 students online this semester either full-time or taking a mixture of traditional and online classes. That is an increase of 352 students for the same period last year.

According to figures released by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, there are 569 students taking only virtual classes.

“Our online increase is mostly a curriculum-wide increase, probably due to growing interest in online classes as a whole,” Johnson said. “Our biggest enrollment increases are in academic core curriculum classes such as history, English, biology and social science classes.”

Johnson thinks that trend is due to the non-traditional students who are returning to college.

“If it’s hard to schedule regular classes with a student’s work schedule, online classes are a great alternative,” she said.

Another dramatic increase is in the number of credit hours, which is the component for calculating the college’s funding formula. On all three campuses, students were enrolled in 85,682 credit hours, an increase of 11,913. Total virtual credit hours was 15,361, up 2,192.

“I am so pleased that our increase was across the board,” said Larry Simpson, dean, Enrollment Management and Registrar. “Each of our three campuses, both day and evening as well as eLearning were up substantially.

“I am very happy to know that the citizens of our district have faith that their educational needs are being met by NWCC,” he continued.

Northwest is a two-year, public community college offering academic courses for transfer and career and technical classes, non-credit classes in Continuing Education and training programs through its Workforce Division. For more information visit the website at www.northwestms.edu.

(Northwest journalism major S.A. Umberger contributed to this story.)