MSTC Reports Enrollment and Online Growth

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WISCONSIN RAPIDS - During the Mid-State Technical College (MSTC) Board of Directors meeting held Monday evening, the Board heard an enrollment report from Connie Willfahrt, Vice President of Student Affairs & Information Technology. She said the college is experiencing a strong rise in enrollment from the previous year. "This year's numbers indicate a 12.8 percent increase in program FTE's (Full-time Equivalent students)," said Willfahrt. Programs with notable growth include Administrative Assistant, Business Management, Criminal Justice-Law Enforcement, Industrial Mechanical Technician, Instrumentation, IT-Programmer/Analyst and Paramedic Technician.

During her report, Willfahrt also shared demographic information about MSTC students. "While the average age of MSTC students is 28, this fall's student population reflects a 31% increase in students age 40 years and older." She said the college is meeting the needs of many area dislocated workers with 75 new enrollees for the current year compared to 50 from last year. Willfahrt ended her report with a reference to the college's expansion of online courses as contributing to the overall enrollment growth.

In 2006, MSTC made a strategic decision to grow its online offerings and increase student accessibility to MSTC courses and programs. According to Dr. Kenneth Urban, Director of College Advancement, and Patty Fairchild, Online Support Services Specialist, current student enrollment indicates that online courses continue to be in high demand. Urban and Fairchild presented highlights of MSTC's online activity during the meeting. Fairchild said the General Education Division saw the greatest growth in the number of online sections with an increase of 250% since fall semester 2007. "However, even with this substantial growth, the majority of MSTC's online student population enroll in Business Division course offerings," added Fairchild. Urban said that 20% of the college's online students are located outside of the MSTC District.

In other news, the college received a Workplace Adult Education grant from the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) to support the first phase of employee training for workers at the Stevens Point NewPage Paper Mill. The instruction funded by the $20,000 grant will introduce approximately 125 employees to basic computer operation that will be integrated into the daily work at the mill. The computer training will serve as a foundation for a new continuous improvement and training program at NewPage. NewPage will provide $5,000 in a cash match and the WTCS grant will provide the remaining $15,000. Training is expected to begin in October.

The next Mid-State Technical College Board of Directors meeting will be held Monday, October 20 at the Marshfield campus. Committee meetings are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., with the regular Board meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. To learn more about MSTC programs and services, please call 888.575.6782 or visit the college's website at mstc.edu.