College count continues climb

COEUR d'ALENE - Enrollment is up for another year on the already burgeoning higher education campuses in Coeur d'Alene, although the number of students flocking to college since the recession began is waning.

North Idaho College's head count rose from 6,347 in the fall of 2010 to this year's fall enrollment of 6,751. The increase of 404 students represents a 6.4 percent hike for the community college.

"While this fall's head count is a drop from several years of double-digit enrollment growth, 6.4 percent is a very robust increase and more than two percentage points higher than we projected in our fiscal year 2012 budget," said NIC President Priscilla Bell in a prepared statement.

NIC instituted some new attendance and registration processes this year, which Bell said had an influence on enrollment growth.

"Couple this with a slowly recovering economy and it explains the drop from previous high increases," Bell said.

This year's enrollment increase comes on top of two years of skyrocketing student numbers already being sustained on the NIC campus.

In the fall of 2009, the college reported a 16.5 percent hike in its student head count, adding an additional 803 students, bringing the total students to 5,659.

A year later, in the fall of 2010, the head count jumped by another 688 students.

NIC's enrollment has increased more than 45 percent since 2007 when the head count was 4,650.

For this year's fall semester, the largest segment of program growth at NIC was in professional-technical enrollment, up 21.2 percent from 780 to 945. College officials attribute much of that growth to new certificate options offered in NIC's Electronic Medical Records Adoption for Healthcare Practices programs.

Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d'Alene has also experienced dramatic growth in recent years.

The branch campus has 467 students enrolled for the fall semester, up from 429 in the fall of 2010, representing an 8.8 percent gain.

Transfer students from NIC comprise 32.3 percent of LCSC-Coeur d'Alene's newly enrolled student head count.

"I am very pleased that we're making strong progress in our enrollment," said LCSC-Coeur d'Alene executive director Cyndie Hammond. "More people are discovering our affordability, our customer service and the quality of our degrees. It's truly an exciting time for us."

The college's enrollment has increased by 37 percent since the fall of 2007 when there were 341 students enrolled. Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d'Alene offers a dozen baccalaureate degrees, including business administration, nursing, elementary and secondary education, and communication.

This year the largest enrollment increase is in the business division, which grew by 21.3 percent to 171 students compared to 141 in 2010.

"The increases in the business program can be attributed to a number of factors. During tough economic times, college enrollment typically increases; however, more and more businesses are expecting their employees to have a four-year degree," Hammond said. "Employees return to finish their degrees in order to be competitive in the hiring process, to continue employment, to increase salaries, or to earn promotions."

The University of Idaho's branch campus in Coeur d'Alene saw a drop off in the more than 12 percent enrollment increases it had experienced in each of the past two years.

U of I-Coeur d'Alene is sustaining those increases; however, and has added another 5 percent.

Enrollment for this year's fall semester rose from 502 students to 529.

"We've had a real emphasis on continuation and retention," said Steve Neiheisel, the university's assistant vice president for enrollment management.

All state schools are required to file a 10th day report to the Idaho State Board of Education. Enrollment figures are based on the numbers during the 10th day of enrollment, which was Friday.