Schools buck state trend

Despite state budget cuts in the last legislative session, fall semester enrollment is up at L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College and Nicholls State University, officials said.

Fletcher has seen a 19.5 percent increase – 298 students – this fall semester from last year to 1,823, according to the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.

Meanwhile, Nicholls’ undergraduate enrollment is up 3.7 percent (255 students) this semester over last year to 7,185. Graduate student enrollment also increased by 5.8 percent.

“We always expected enrollment to go up, but could not imagine it being this much given the (state) budget reductions,” said Fletcher Chancellor Travis Lavigne.

“The enrollment numbers are very encouraging,” said Nicholls president Dr. Stephen T. Hulbert. “Education is our primary mission, and while Nicholls is facing financial challenges, our commitment to protect and strengthen our academic core will always be paramount.”

The enrollment numbers were tallied from students still enrolled at the universities after 14 days of classes.

Officials attributed the increase partially to a slight turndown in the local economy.

“I know some schools are saying they are down because of the economy. Well, it really goes the other way,” said Dr. Larry Howell, Nicholls associate provost of academic affairs. “When the economy goes down, enrollment goes up because if you’re losing your job, now is a good time to upgrade your skills.”

“They’re increasing their skill set so when they go back to work, they will be even better paying jobs,” Lavigne concurred. “We see that in the marine transportation area especially. People getting additional licensing and can earn additional working on larger vessels.”

Fletcher’s state general funds were cut by $417,000 or 8.4 percent.

While Lavigne anticipated Fletcher’s enrollment to rise, not knowing the magnitude of the budget reductions meant he had to leave several staff positions open to ensure instructional needs were met.

“We asked the faculty to teach what we call overloads,” he explained. “Normally a faculty member teaches 15 credit hours per semester. Right now, we have faculty members teaching 18, 21, one is teaching 28.5 credit hours this semester.”

“The faculty has realized the need to continue to provide educational opportunities with the increased enrollment,” he added. “So we pay their overload hours like the equivalent of an adjacent professor.”

Nicholls’ state funding was cut $4.4 million or 12.3 percent.

The university also cut five programs and 80 staff positions. Howell estimated about 100 students did not return because their degree program was eliminated.

Still, Nicholls administrators predicted only an increase of 150 to 175 students based on applications for residential housing.

Howell credited attracting and retaining better quality students since becoming a selective admissions university in 2006 for the higher than expected population.

“Nicholls is becoming a school of first choice,” he said. “We’re increasing the awareness and the reputation of our academic programs is growing because of the quality of our students.”

More than 59 percent of first time freshman students in the fall 2009 semester are Taylor Opportunity Scholarship (TOPS) recipients.

Retention of first time freshman students increased from 65.6 percent in fall 2008 to 66.4 percent in fall 2009. The retention of African American students also increased 3 percent.

While Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes continue to provide the bulk of enrollees (3,717), Nicholls is attracting more students from outside its immediate service area.

Enrollment of out-of-state students, international students and state residents from beyond the surrounding parishes increased by 2.7 percent, 6.1 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.

More students are also choosing to attend Fletcher to begin their college career.

Thirty-seven percent of Fletcher’s students are in the general studies program or non-declared students who intend to transfer to other colleges or universities.

The allied health and nursing programs comprise 31 percent of students; technical programs, 14 percent; accounting & office systems, 13 percent; and marine programs, five percent.

Fletcher’s enrollment has skyrocketed 183 percent since its designation as a technical community college in 2003.

“The visionary leadership of the community that supported a technical community college in this region could not have foreseen the exponential enrollment,” Lavigne said.

“This growth illustrates a more imminent need to expand services with the development of a new campus to assure Fletcher’s ability to provide post secondary education opportunities for our students and our community,” he added.

But with Louisiana’s revenue estimating conference projecting even deeper budget cuts statewide for the next fiscal year, school administrators are not sure how they can continue to provide educational services if enrollment rises again.

“We need to be careful and plan for some budget reductions in the following fiscal year,” Lavigne said. “That will be a real test of how we’re able to manage.”

L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College and Nicholls State University saw fall semester enrollment rise 21 and 3.7 percent, respectively, from last year despite significant budget cuts to their state general funds. * File photo / Tri-Parish Times