Nicholls State anticipates 3 percent drop in enrollment

Nicholls State University administrators attribute a decline in freshmen enrollment in part to a local economy unfazed by the national economic slide.

Nicholls reported its expected enrollment to be 200 students fewer than the approximate 7,100 who enrolled in 2010-11, a 3-percent decline.

NSU Executive Vice President Larry Howell said research indicates a struggling economy tends to drive up enrollment numbers.

“Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes have largely been immune to the growing unemployment figures in the state, so we fully expected that fewer people would apply for admission at Nicholls,” Howell said in a press release.

Administrators also pointed to the number of students the school has graduated the last three years, which is the highest per-year average in the school’s history, and the number of students enrolling at a nearby partner institution.

Preliminary fall enrollment data at Fletcher Technical Community College shows an increase of 55 students, from 2,395 in 2010 to 2,450 in 2011, according to Elmy Savoie, director of public relations at Fletcher.

The 2.2 percent increase is unofficial, Savoie stressed, because students are still enrolling for the school’s technical programs. An official number would be made available after the 14th day of class, on Sept. 2.

“For the most part, we anticipate a steady enrollment compared to last year,” Savoie said.

From 2009 to 2010, fall enrollment jumped 572 students from 1,823, or 31.3 percent, after Fletcher absorbed two-year programs from Nicholls.

“More and more students are beginning their college education at Fletcher, and, hopefully, will later transfer to Nicholls to complete their four-year degrees,” Laynie Barrileaux, vice president for academic affairs said in the release.

Fletcher awarded more than $75,000 in scholarships last year, Savoie said, the majority of which were paid for by BP for students enrolling in the Integrated Production Technology Program, which prepares students for careers in oil and gas production.

Nicholls awarded 43 high school valedictorian scholarships for the fall of 2011, surpassing last year’s figure by 13 and the previous year by 19, the release said.

First-time freshmen retention at Nicholls dipped two-tenths of a percent to 70 percent. It exceeds the 68.1 percent threshold required by the La Grad Act and far exceeds the university’s 65 percent retention rate from 2004-05 to 2005-06.

The average composite ACT score for first-time freshmen is 21.7. Nicholls’ incoming freshmen scored 0.6 points higher than the high school graduating class of 2011 national average and 1.6 points higher than the state’s average on the college entry exam.

First-time freshmen who wish to enroll must have a composite score of at least 16 on the ACT and have graduated high school with a 2.00 GPA.

Enrollees must also satisfy one of the following three requirements: a 2.35 high-school GPA, a 21 composite ACT or be in the top 50 percent of a graduating class.

Similar state institutions in average class sizes have yet to release 2010-11 to 2011-12 retention rates or first-time freshmen scores on the ACT.