Northwest Iowa — Two Sioux County institutions of higher learning are both reporting record enrollments.
According to Northwestern College officials, the Orange City college has set a spring enrollment record with 1,482 students. This year’s number is up from 1,406 last spring.
They tell us the 2021 enrollment figures include an all-time high for online and graduate student enrollment. This spring 498 students are enrolled in Northwestern’s online Master of Education and degree-completion programs in early childhood and nursing, up from 461 last fall.
A 90.5% retention rate for freshmen also contributed to this spring’s record.
Tamara Fynaardt, vice president for enrollment and marketing says that Northwestern is pleased to set more enrollment records. She says that Northwestern’s enrollment continues on an upward trajectory because, “…our reputation for offering standout programs, integrating faith and learning, and providing a tight-knit community for both undergraduate and graduate students is growing.”
Meanwhile, officials at Dordt University in Sioux Center say that Dordt has a total enrollment of 1,623 students for the spring 2021 semester, which includes 1,261 full-time undergraduate students and 236 graduate students. In comparison, during the spring 2020 semester, Dordt had a total enrollment of 1,553 students, including 1,250 full-time undergraduates and 155 graduate students, say Dordt officials. The 2021 enrollment is a record headcount for the spring semester, according to Jim Bos, registrar and director of Institutional Research.
Brandon Huisman, vice president for enrollment and marketing, says that a Dordt education is “…valuable not only in helping students find employment but in helping them make sense of the changing world as well.” He says, “Our biblical framework recognizes that we live in a broken world and calls us to work toward how things ought to be—even in the midst of a difficult year,” says Huisman.”
Dordt officials tell us that the record spring enrollment also highlights Dordt’s growing graduate and online programs. They say this spring, 21 students are participating in Dordt’s new Master of Social Work (MSW) program, 10 students are enrolled in Dordt’s new Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, and 206 students are taking courses in Dordt’s Master of Education (M.Ed.) program. In addition, 104 high school students are enrolled in Dordt’s dual credit program this spring, up from 22 enrollees last spring.
