Would name change be cure-all for NWC?

Posted 10/17/24

The elephant in the room in the stir surrounding a proposed change in the name of Northwest College is declining enrollments of recent years.

It’s true NWC enrollment has fallen off. In …

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Would name change be cure-all for NWC?

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The elephant in the room in the stir surrounding a proposed change in the name of Northwest College is declining enrollments of recent years.

It’s true NWC enrollment has fallen off. In fact, the enrollment decline of 39% at NWC was the greatest of all community colleges in the state in the decade of 2009-2019.  The decade is not selected to cherrypick numbers; it just happens to reflect the period of general slippage in Wyoming community college enrollment numbers.

Here’s the interesting overview. The slide was virtually across the board. Only Northern Wyoming Community College District (Sheridan and Gillette) had positive numbers for the 10-year period with a 12% increase.

Casper College was down 14%, Central Wyoming College at Riverton down 23%, Eastern Wyoming College at Torrington down 7%, Laramie County Community College at Cheyenne down 18% and Western Wyoming College at Rock Springs down 17%.

NWC Trustee John Housel of Cody has offered his idea for reversing enrollment ills and general NWC branding challenges: change the name of Northwest College to Yellowstone College. The college board has decided to put the matter to a formal vote at its next meeting in November.

Meanwhile, a bit of good news on the enrollment front was released this week from the desk of NWC President Lisa Watson. This is not to suggest it was timed to weigh in on the name change consideration. But she was pleased to tout fall semester 2024 enrollment up 10% at Northwest to the college’s highest count since 2018.

Official  numbers won’t be released until after the end of fall semester. But in Watson’s words, “It’s looking good!”

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