PNC Sets Enrollment and Credit Hour Records

WESTVILLE - Purdue University North Central set all-time enrollment and credit hour records for the fall semester of 2006. The semester started Aug. 21 and students are enrolled in a record 39,520 credit hours, an 8 percent increase over last fall’s total.

PNC now has 3,724 total students - an all-time high for the campus. This represents a 5.8 percent increase over the fall of 2005. PNC students include 2,253 full-time students, marking the fourth consecutive year that the campus has registered a record numbers of full-time students.

Students are taking an average of 10.6 credit hours each. In addition, the number of first-time freshman enrolled is 726, a 6.3 percent jump from fall semester 2005. The average PNC student is 25 years old. There are 1,550 males and 2,174 females enrolled.

PNC has 89 graduate students, with 68 students enrolled in its Master of Business Administration program, offered at PNC – Porter County in Valparaiso.

“We are happy to see that students from throughout Northwest Indiana are choosing to attend Purdue North Central. Increasing numbers of students are earning their degrees at PNC due to the fact that in recent years we’ve increased the number of academic programs offered, we have a broad range of minors and we’ve added an MBA program,” said Chancellor James B. Dworkin. “Students know that they can get a world-class Purdue education at Purdue North Central.”

The newly renovated and expanded PNC – Porter County has proven to be an attractive option for students, said Larry Barrett, assistant vice chancellor for Enrollment Management and Student Services. This semester, 516 students are enrolled in classes there, a sizeable increase from last fall.

Barrett also noted that a number of Ivy Tech Community College alumni have enrolled in PNC bachelor’s degree programs. A recently signed agreement between Ivy Tech and PNC allows Ivy Tech alumni to seamlessly transfer from their associate degree programs to designated PNC bachelor’s degree programs.

“Our staff is working with current and prospective students to ensure they find what they need at PNC,” said Barrett. “We have very attractive academic programs available. Our financial aid staff also has a hands-on approach with students. Our advisors work one-on-one with students. We want to see our students succeed.”

Dworkin also noted that U.S.News & World Report recently ranked PNC as third among bachelor’s-degree granting colleges and universities in the Midwest for graduating students with the least amount of debt in its 2007 Edition of America's Best Colleges.

This is the fourth time that PNC has ranked among the leaders in its category for graduating students with the least amount of debt. It has twice been ranked among the Best Comprehensive Colleges granting bachelor’s degrees In the Midwest.

Once again, the largest number of students, 849, list Valparaiso as home, 636 are from LaPorte and 499 are from Michigan City. Chesterton/Porter is home to 288 students. Most of the remaining students give home addresses in rural LaPorte, Porter, St. Joseph, Jasper, Pulaski and Marshall counties. There are 1,541 students from LaPorte County, 1,531 students from Porter County, 152 from Starke County and 191 from Lake County.

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