Sheldon, Iowa — Never before have this many students been enrolled in the fall at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon.
The enrollment this fall is the largest fall class in the school’s history dating back to 1966. The 1,811 enrolled students represent about a 5.54% increase from Fall 2021 when the headcount was 1,716. The previous record was in the fall of 2019 when enrollments were 1,777 students.
NCC has multiple terms and start dates throughout the year, and so officials remind us that the fall enrollment number is just one data point that NCC records. Another enrollment number of interest is the total, unduplicated headcount recorded at the end of the entire academic year. For example, in August 2022, at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, NCC finished with a total of 2,701 students.
Kristin Kollbaum, Director of Marketing & Communications says that when you look at the numbers historically this year’s fall class is the largest incoming class to NCC. It also represents roughly a 12% increase in enrollments over the last 10 years (in 2012 there were 1,621 students). She says NCC officials are very happy with this progress both this year and over the last 10 years. She says it shows NCC’s strong commitment to making sure programs are high quality, affordable, and accessible. She says, “We want our program offerings to align with the industry and learning needs of Northwest Iowans.”
NCC has been the recipient of several national recognitions over the past several months:
Top 10 Community College in the Nation, Aspen Institute;
2nd in the Nation for Best Overall Community College, WalletHub.com
2nd in the Nation for Career Outcomes, WalletHub.com;
#6 – Top 10 Associate-Granting Public Institutions in the US by Median Lifetime Return on Investment (ROI), Bipartisan Policy Center
#9 – Top 10 Higher Education Institutions in Iowa by Median Lifetime Return on Investment (ROI), Bipartisan Policy Center.
