Northwest census shows enrollment decline

TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Northwest Missouri State University Students enter the J.W. Jones Student Union over the lunch hour Thursday. Newly released census figures show that total enrollment at Northwest stands at 6,338, nearly 3 percent less than last year’s fall headcount of 6,530. Administrators cite the impending closure of the Missouri Academy of Mathematics, Science and Computing as well as slowing international admissions as reasons for the decline.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Northwest Missouri State University has announced results from its fall enrollment census, which show a total student headcount of 6,338, a number that includes 5,474 undergraduates and 864 students seeking advanced degrees.

That headcount is down 2.9 percent from fall 2016, when the total was 6,530 students, 5,628 of whom were undergraduates.

According to a Northwest release, university officials attribute the decline to the planned closure this spring of the Missouri Academy of Mathematics, Science and Computing — a two-year residential program for gifted high-school-age students — and slowing international enrollment.

This fall’s census includes 1,216 first-time freshmen and 289 transfer students. School officials noted that just over 73 percent of Northwest’s fall 2016 first-time freshmen returned to the university for a second year of study, a percentage they say places the university in the top tier of its national peer group.

New Northwest students posted an average ACT score of 22.7, up from 22.5 last year, and carried an average high school grade-point average of 3.39.

From a diversity perspective, 1,316 students, or 21 percent, of Northwest students come from “underrepresented domestic groups or other countries.” Northwest’s total minority enrollment is 825 students, which represents almost 13 percent of the student body.

Enrollment includes 491 international students, who make up about 8 percent of Northwest’s student body. That’s a 2-percent decline from fall 2016. Students are attending Northwest from 31 nations, the majority coming from India, Nepal, China and South Korea.

Missouri residents account for 4,130 students. Other leading states in terms of enrollment include Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Altogether, students from 36 states are pursuing Northwest degrees.