NMC enrollment posts slight increase

Despite problems with scholarship funds, the Northern Marianas College posted a slim increase in its enrollment for the fall semester.

Kurt Barnes, dean of student development, said a total of 1,236 students have registered as of yesterday morning, when classes opened for academic year 2004-2005. The number of enrollees was slightly greater than the 1,233 students who registered at the community college for fall last year.

Barnes said at least 100 more students are expected to enlist until Wednesday, the last day of registration.

He attributed the increased enrollment to “better marketing and recruiting efforts on the part of the college.” NMC sent recruiting teams to various high schools on island before the end of the previous academic year, he noted.

The problem with the Pell grant, he added, apparently had no impact on the enrollment.

Most students rely on the Pell Grant and other scholarship providers for funding for their education. Because NMC has been under Pell reimbursement basis, some students were expected to have problems in registering for the new semester.

Last week, however, NMC announced that students who have yet to receive their Pell reimbursement for last school year’s tuition and fees may enroll for the fall semester.

Starting last Friday, eligible students were also allowed to purchase textbooks at the NMC bookstore and charge the costs to their Pell award.

The federal government placed the college on Pell reimbursement status—instead of advance status—due to NMC’s failure to submit audits on time in the last four years. The U.S. Education Department later said the reimbursement status would be lifted as soon as NMC submits three consecutive batches of student applications that contain an error rate of 10 percent or less.

To further assist the students financially, NMC asked the CNMI Scholarship Office last week to disregard all release forms submitted by the students for their Fall 2004 scholarship checks and issue the money directly to the students.

Under the old practice, the college asks scholarship recipients to sign a form allowing for their scholarship checks to be disbursed through the college for payment of their outstanding tuition and fees and book charges. Only the money left from these charges eventually goes to the students.

NMC decided to have the scholarship checks released directly to the students upon the latter’s request and agreement that they will clear their outstanding balances by the end of the Fall 2004 semester.

Upon the students’ suggestion, those with outstanding balances will not be allowed register for the Spring 2005 semester.

Students get an average of $2,000 from the CNMI Scholarship Office and about the same amount from the Pell Grant annually.