NNMC News:
ESPAÑOLA — Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) has announced 12-percent increases in both the number of students attending and its Full Time Equivalent (FTE) calculation, which indicates how many students would be attending if all were enrolled full time.
Fall enrollment is at 1229, with 771.9 FTEs. The increased enrollment shows that Northern is the college of choice for a growing number of students.
Northern exceeded the ambitious goals it submitted to the New Mexico Higher Education Department two months ago in its Strategic Enrollment Plan Update. In addition, these numbers were reached by Census Day (Friday, Sept. 1, 2023), when the college takes a “snapshot” of all student enrollment, which becomes the official enrollment used for both state reporting and financial aid eligibility. Those numbers will likely go up as more students enroll in the second 8-week term.
“We have set an exciting new course at Northern through our new Soaring to New Heights model, which shows that when you give amazing students an opportunity they will succeed, and this growth in enrollment is proof of that idea,” President Hector Balderas said. “This growth is the result of exciting new things happening at Northern, and I want to thank our admissions/recruitment, advisement, dual credit, financial aid, academic departments, student billing and the communications teams for their commitment and excellent work to make this happen.”
This is the second semester of increased enrollment growth for Northern over previous years, after six years of a linear trend of 1.2-percent growth per year. The Teacher Education department saw the largest jump in enrollment, with a 32-percent increase, followed by Business Administration at 20 percent. The Department of Nursing and Health Sciences enrollment grew by 9 percent.
“Our outstanding programs demonstrate the quality of education and opportunities we provide to students at Northern, and I echo our sincere thanks to our students, faculty, and staff for their tremendous efforts to increase enrollment and support student success.” Dr. Ivan Lopez Hurtado said, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
As the Fall semester unfolds, Northern will focus on supporting these undergraduates in an inclusive, student-centered teaching and learning community.
