Northern Michigan University's 10th day enrollment report shows increases in transfer students, retention and total learners reached, along with six-year graduation rates, which universities report regularly at the federal level.
Transfer students are up 7.2 % from last fall and the retention rate of 73.3% is up from the previous 72.5%. The six-year graduation rate increased by nearly 4%, the biggest jump in recent history. NMU serves 17,622 learners across its many credit and non-credit, online and in-person educational offerings, which is 3.3% more than in 2021. However, total traditional headcount is down 3.4% to 6,970.
“This is the first time NMU's headcount has dropped below 7,000 in recent memory,” said Jason Nicholas, assistant provost and director of Institutional Effectiveness. “We're starting to feel some of the demographic challenges we knew were headed our way and that were perhaps accelerated by COVID-19. Recognizing the continuing challenges, our new interim strategic plan calls for efforts to better clarify and measure NMU's enrollment management strategies. Work along those lines has been going on for a number of weeks.”
Nicholas said NMU Continuing Education and Workforce Development rebounded nicely in its recovery from COVID-19 impacts on programs. It served 1,668 learners last year and is up to 2,300 this fall.
To view related reports, visit nmu.edu/institutionaleffectiveness.