More full-time students enroll at NMC By MARIAN A. MARAYA

The high costs of off-island college education has prompted most CNMI parents to confine their children’s first two years of post secondary education at the Northern Marianas College.

This was the assessment made by NMC Development and Alumni Relations Director Tony Deleon Guerrero after noting initial registration figures recording up to 91 percent full-time students at CNMI’s lone college.

In the years prior to the current fall semester, full-time and part-time students normally shared close to 50-50 out of the total student enrollment, according to Mr. Guerrero.

“Since people are facing financial difficulties nowadays perhaps parents are telling their kids to start their college education on island, for two years because it saves them a lot of money…minus the airfare, living accommodations, and other extra expenses,” said Mr. Guerrero, “In a way, this is a good sign because students are taking college courses on a full time basis,” he said.

The NMC director also pointed out the sudden surge in the number of full-time student enrollment could be due to the lack of financial aides accorded to part-time students.

The local government’s decision to give up financial assistance to college part-time students have decreased NMC’s student enrollment from 1,884 in school year 97-98 to 1,607 the following SY.

Mr. Guerrero also attributes the increase in students taking up 12 or more credits to the college’s more comprehensive marketing efforts.

“I believe that the general community now is more aware about the accreditation status of the college. We are gaining more public confidence as a post secondary institution,” he said.

For the first time in the college’s history, NMC’s institutional development arm has devised of ways to promote the college’s programs to reach a varied range of audiences, according to Mr. Guerrero.

“We’ve advertised in newspapers, television, radio, and circulated flyers with the fall semester schedule. And this is the first time we have done this,” he said.

As of Aug. 17, student head count was recorded at 722 with a total of 7,888 credits, and 657 full time equivalency.

During the first day of registration alone, the college was able to draw 455 students taking up a total of 5,325 credits.

Based on current and past trends, college students now prefer to take up computer-related courses.

“That is to be expected because of the changes happening in the workplace, almost any type of business in the industry are now using computers. So people are now realizing that the demand is there, and they are taking a lot more technological courses,” said Mr. Guerrero.

Most students over the years have also been keen on majoring in business and education.
NMC classes are set to start today but due to the president’s request, the registration period has been extended until the end of the week to accommodate more late registrants.