Northwest Mississippi Community College increased from a 7,028 headcount in Fall 2022 to a 7,470 headcount in Fall 2023, which is the greatest enrollment increase of any community college in the state.

The college also had an increase in credit hours from 82,994 to 87,239 in the fall semester, marking a 6.3 percent increase in headcount and a 5 percent increase in credit hours, according to the 10-day preliminary enrollment report released by the Mississippi Community College Board.

This growth in enrollment is due to increased student growth at the Senatobia campus, those at other locations such as Batesville, DeSoto, and Oxford, online students, dual enrolled students and students that are a part of Northwest’s Scholastic Institute, which is an accelerated college program for high school students in Oxford.

“Northwest has so much to offer students in and out of the classroom,” said Jere Herrington, director of recruitment. “Growth on our campuses and in our educational programs reaffirms that it’s a great time to be a Ranger!”

Growth is not new to the campus culture at Northwest. In the last five years, the college has been continually working to provide better access, experiences, and resources for students.

“We are excited to share that NWCC is celebrating our sixth consecutive semester of enrollment growth,” said Dr. Tonyalle Rush, AVP for Student Services and Enrollment Management at Northwest. “This success is attributed to our enhanced college-wide recruiting and retention efforts, and adopting and embracing the philosophy that enrollment management is everyone’s responsibility. Special thanks to our leadership and all team members at Northwest!”

Dr. Michael Heindl, president of Northwest, gives enrollment growth credit to the campus culture.
“Our students enjoy an exciting collegiate atmosphere on campus and are able to enjoy participating in many activities, sports, and events,” he said. “Also, the college has been able to re-invest in students by providing top quality spaces to live and study. In the last several years, the college has invested over $100 million in construction and renovation projects across all our campuses.”

Career-technical education has also been on the rise with the expansion of new programs, increased enrollment, and opening of the Concourse in Batesville.

“The college has experienced a 38 percent increase in career-technical education enrollment over the past four years,” said Dwayne Casey, AVP of CTE. “We have started five new programs, and increased capacity in others where demand is needed by students or industry partners.”

Under Dr. Heindl’s leadership, the college has shown continual growth in the number of students, improvements on campus, and new buildings and structures such as the new performing arts center, the Chick-fil-A opening, and the new residence halls-one is currently open and one is under construction.