The 10th-day NMU enrollment census is in, and the numbers say enrollment for Winter 2020 is up 3% from last Winter 2019, continuing a trend of increase since winter 2018.

When analyzing enrollment statistics from semester to semester, it is important to understand that there is typically a 10% decrease in enrollment from each fall semester to each winter semester, Director of NMU Institutional Research and Analysis Jason Nicholas said.

 This number is quite consistent, and it held out this year. There were approximately 7,730 students in the fall semester, and this winter there are 7,077 students, according to Nicholas. This decrease of about 700 was expected, due to some students moving on to full-time work, transferring to another school or simply graduating. More than 500 NMU students graduated this December, Nicholas said.

“Compared to previous winter terms, this one is the first time we’ve been over 7,000 since winter of 2016, so we have been climbing winter by
winter,” Nicholas said.

There are likely many reasons for this increase, but the largest contributing factor is the addition of programs, he said.

“We’ve got all kinds of different programs in the undergraduate portfolio.The graduate programs are up about 14%, so they’ve got a bunch of new, in-demand programs that they’ve been hearing from students that they wanted,” Nicholas said.

NMU is responding to a demand for graduate programs by students who seek to continue their education, Nicholas said. Healthy enrollment numbers indicate positive results for students, he said.