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Northshore Technical Community College (NTCC) faculty and staff recently celebrated its largest class in history, with a 10.5-percent increase in enrollment from fall 2021 to fall 2022, according to an NTCC press release.

Those numbers represent NTCC’s biggest fall class, with its origins dating back to 1930 as the Sullivan Trade School in Bogalusa. Today, NTCC boasts over 5,000 students attending one of their five campuses in Bogalusa, Lacombe, Hammond, Livingston and Greensburg, as well as a bridge program at Southeastern Louisiana University. In addition, the college also operates one of the largest dual enrollment programs in the state, serving over 2,200 high school students in career and academic programs of study.

NTCC Chancellor Dr. William Wainwright praised the efforts of the faculty and staff to ensure the students were able to enroll in the college and access financial resources.

“Accessibility and affordability are central to the mission of our college,” Wainwright said. “Enrollment growth is one of several indicators demonstrating a market-responsive higher education institution. This work is not done alone. Partnerships with school systems, industry, and economic development ensure student success.”

The rise in enrollment at NTCC comes on the heels of the college’s largest class of 539 students graduating during the spring 2022 commencement ceremony.

“These numbers are incredible gains,” said Dr. Jim Carlson, NTCC’s Vice Chancellor of Strategic Initiatives. “But the good news does not just reflect our enrollment and graduates.”

According to the NTCC 2021 Institutional Effectiveness Report, since 2018 Certificate Completers have increased 20 percent, Diploma Completers have increased 54 percent, Minority Completion has increased 40 percent, and adult learner completion has increased 38 percent, Carlson said.

The college attributes its growth to the desire for local residents to have access to high-quality education and training opportunities that lead to high-demand, high-wage jobs and the ability to transfer to universities. NTCC features over 25-degree programs, plus traditional academic university pathways for bachelor’s degree completion. The college also holds articulation agreements with LSU-Alexandria, Mississippi State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi that allow NTCC technical program graduates the opportunity to transfer their credits to complete a bachelor’s degree in applied technology or science.

“These special articulation agreements allow NTCC graduates who have completed an Associate of Applied Science degree the ability to transfer up to 60 hours of credit, 45 of which can be technical,” Carlson said. “It’s truly a game-changer for our students to earn a living in their field of study and complete a bachelor’s degree to further their careers.”

“At the heart of our mission is being able to provide affordable, accessible educational options to the Northshore community that allows many students to graduate from NTCC with little to no debt,” Wainwright said. “The college’s tuition and fees are less than one-half of the cost of attending a four-year university. Our national ranking as one of the best community colleges in the nation for the economic value of its graduates by the Brookings Institute is a testament to the quality education a student will receive when enrolling in Northshore Technical Community College.”

For more information about NTCC, visit online at www.northshorecollege.edu.