Student enrollment census finds Northwest with a 2.9% decrease

Enrollment at Northwest Missouri State University this fall is 6,338 students; the university announced after completing its fall census.

The total headcount represents a 2.9 percent decrease from last fall, which the university attributes to the impending closure of its Missouri Academy of Mathematics, Science and Computing and slowing international enrollment.

The number comprises 5,474 undergraduate students and 864 graduate students. The student count includes 1,216 first-time freshmen and 289 transfer students. At the same time, 73.2 percent of Northwest’s fall 2016 first-time, full-time freshmen returned to the university, which is a percentage that continues to place Northwest in the top tier of its national peer group.

Northwest’s student body remains diverse with 1,316 students, or 21 percent, coming from underrepresented domestic groups or other countries, an increase since last fall’s enrollment. Northwest’s total minority enrollment is 825 students, which represents almost 13 percent of the student body.

The university’s enrollment includes 491 international students, who represent about eight percent of Northwest’s student body. They represent 31 countries with the majority of those students coming from India, Nepal, China and South Korea.

The in-state student population is 4,130 students, and Northwest students represent a total of 36 states this fall. In addition to Missouri, Northwest draws well from Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

Other post secondary institutions in Northwest Missouri saw an increase in their student numbers with Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, increasing 3.2 percent and North Central Community College, Trenton growing by over 11 percent.

MoWest has a total of 5,562 students enrolled as of the official census date September 25, including a remarkable 16.2 percent growth in the number of new freshmen. That total includes 5,321 undergraduate students and 241 graduate students.

The number of new freshmen grew from 854 last year to 992 this year while the graduate school enrollment set a record at 243 last year, and nearly matched it this year, with 241 students enrolled.

Students from Missouri account for 86 percent of Missouri Western’s total enrollment, with 33 percent from Buchanan County.

North Central Missouri College’s student enrollment has increased 11.5 percent overall for the fall 2017 semester compared to fall 2016. At the census point, overall student credit hours up 7.7 percent. Largest increases include part-time students, students transferring in from other institutions, non-traditional students, and international students. NCMC was also up both for first-time freshmen and returning students.