MCC Daily Tribune

Need to Know: Projecting Enrollment

MCC relies on a variety of enrollment projection models to predict future college enrollment. These models look at MCC's yield of the local high school graduating class, the overall population of Monroe County, unemployment rates, and historical retention rates at the college. Each model projects future enrollment based on unique variables.

After the models have been created, college stakeholders including the vice presidents, associate vice president for enrollment management, associate vice president for academic services, representatives from the Controller's office, Institutional Research, and Administrative Services examine each of the models and a decision is made to use one or a combination of the models for planning purposes.

Projecting the future enrollment at MCC has become more complicated in recent years. This is due mainly from competition from other schools, lower high school graduating class sizes and lower yields coming to MCC, and the population of Monroe County decreasing. Each of these factors decreases the potential student pool available to MCC.

While Institutional Research can't impact the number of potential students, we can and do assist the College in planning effectively.

William Dixon
Institutional Research
12/04/2018