Chadron State enrollment is up

As of Monday, which was the beginning of the fourth week of classes, CSC had a headcount of 2,490, an increase of 5.2 percent from the same date in 2005, and a full-time student equivalency of 1,974, up 3.3 percent from the figure of a year ago.

Dr. Randy Rhine, vice president for enrollment management and student services, said most of the increases have been in number of freshmen and graduate students.

This year’s freshman class has 531 members, up 7.3 percent from a year ago. Rhine said the FTE’s are up 9.6 percent in the freshman class.

The graduate enrollment has increased by a whopping 42.5 percent and now has a head count of 392. A portion of the graduate school growth has been sparked by the new master of science in organizational management degree. About 40 have begun taking courses leading to that degree.

Rhine added that the graduate enrollment also has grown in other programs, including educational administration, counseling and the master of business administration degree.

“More of our graduate courses are now online and we had a mailing this summer that targeted Chadron State alums in hopes that they would reconnect with us when they decided to work on their master’s degree,” said Rhine. “We’re pleased that a good number have decided to do that.”

The college’s enrollment for the first semester is not complete. The second round of eight-week courses being offered in Chadron State’s new Business Academy will begin Monday, Oct. 23, and a few short-term off-campus courses have later starting dates.