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Contact: Dr. Richard (Deacon) Meier, Vice President
for Student Affairs - 208/792-2218
Spring Enrollment Figures Show Upswing-
Good News in Chilly Budget Climate
Lewis-Clark State Administrators got a break from gloomy state budget news on Thursday,
when they viewed the college's spring semester enrollment figures. The 2002 spring
enrollment headcount showed a 4% increase over last year's figures for the same time.
Colleges and universities typically use figures from the tenth day after classes begin to
measure growth or decline in student numbers. The headcount includes all enrolled
students.
This year, LCSC can also report a 4% increase in its full time equivalency count (FTE).
The FTE count is determined by numbers of credit hours students register for-every fifteen
credits count as one FTE. This is the number used by state officials making funding
decisions, Registrar Diane Johnson explained.
Both sets of numbers pleased Vice President of Student Affairs Deacon Meier. "We
haven't been able to report these kinds of numbers in a long time," he said.
"It's good to see our efforts to recruit and retain good students show up on
paper."
Lewis-Clark State's Coeur d'Alene campus continued a growth spurt begun last fall, with
another jump in numbers of students there. In addition to a spring-to-spring increase,
Coeur d'Alene reported 4% hike in student headcount over last fall's numbers-a significant
achievement when spring enrollment numbers everywhere tend to dip below fall counts.
Spring numbers generally reflect a loss due to attrition-students may transfer, drop out,
or be suspended because of grades, failure to pay fees and so forth, Meier explained. The
full-time equivalency count for this spring shows a drop of only 90 compared to last fall.
President Dene Thomas, just back from a trip to Washington D.C., was happy to hear the
news. Acknowledging the tough economic times and impacts to college programs, she said,
"We've had to deal with some pretty tough issues here lately and good news like this
is especially welcome."
Thomas went on to say, "There's a special nature about LCSC. Its smaller, intimate
campus, the special attention students receive here… I'm hopeful that, even in the
midst of the cuts we may have to make, we can continue to offer those qualities and
actually grow."
The college's spring enrollment figures lend support to that sentiment and the likelihood
of it becoming reality.
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