NIC celebrates increased enrollment

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College administrators touted increased enrollment numbers Wednesday night, saying this is the first year since 2011 that NIC has seen significant increases in every major enrollment category.

During the board of trustees meeting, NIC President Nick Swayne told trustees and community members that more than 2,900 students are enrolled at NIC this fall, a 7% increase over this time last year.

“Students who chose to come to NIC full-time is up 29% over last year,” Swayne said, to applause from the audience.

In fact, Swayne said, enrollment is increasing so much that NIC is “on the cusp” of needing to hire more instructors. Adjuncts will fill the gaps for now.

“It’s a good problem to have,” he said.

Staff said outreach at community events and increased marketing across social media, TV, radio and print media were key drivers for increased enrollment over the summer and fall sessions.

Swayne said another factor was streamlining the online enrollment process to make it easier and more intuitive for prospective students.

“We have made significant strides in that process and as a result, we’ve seen a huge increase in enrollment,” he said.

Vicki Isakson, the dean of instruction for workforce education, said there are more opportunities for growth, including second-year retention.

“We’re working just as hard on retention as we are on enrollment,” she said.

Trustee Tarie Zimmerman praised staff and administrators for their efforts.

“I’m just elated at the enrollment numbers,” she said. “It’s a fabulous job that you’ve done and I’d like to thank you for that.”

NIC athletics director Shawn Nöel also provided trustees with an overview of the 2025 athletics costs.

NIC’s budget for fiscal year 2025 includes $1.6 million to cover tuition, room and board, books and a round-trip flight for all student athletes playing sports associated with the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

Of NIC’s 188 student athletes, 153 are receiving full grants in aid from the college. Last year, 133 student athletes received some amount of grant in aid, while 142 received some grant in aid the year before that.

Noel said NIC has recruited 43 international student athletes this year, compared to 14 last year.

“The takeaway is that we have more international students than we’ve had,” Nöel said.

A total of 20 Idaho students will play for NIC, including 11 from North Idaho and nine from other parts of the state.

All told, NIC will spend just shy of $1.3 million on tuition and fees for student athletes.

“We’re under what we budgeted by a few hundred thousand,” Trustee Todd Banducci said.