Northwestern State University of Louisiana announced an increase in student enrollment after years of decreasing numbers. The announcement made by NSU states this fall’s student population is the highest it’s been in five years.

According to the press release, NSU currently has 8,523 students enrolled for the Fall 2024 semester.

Vanner Erikson, director of Enrollment Management at NSU, said the enrollment decline NSU has experienced in the past years had much to do with outside factors, which other universities experienced as well.

“I think we’re seeing more students not wanting to go to school, we’re seeing lower birth rates from 18 years ago, so there’s a population cliff that we’re facing, so there’s a lot of things that we’re fighting against,” Erikson said.

Erikson said the efforts of NSU’s Recruiting Team had an impact on the increase in enrollment at NSU.

“Throughout the year, we do about 90-plus events that focus on recruiting or assist with it, plus we do tours every day,” Erikson said.

NSU’s Recruiting office works to promote an increase in enrollment through events such as N-Side View Day, Literally Rally, STEM Day and All-State Choir Day. Events like these allow for high school students across the state of Louisiana to visit NSU’s campus and experience their prospective fields, Erikson said. The team also visits in-state high schools to reach out to students who want help planning for college.

For further outreach, recruiting works with the Marketing and Communications office to strategically promote the university, the director of University Marketing and Branding said.

“As the director of marketing, my role involves a blend of strategic leadership and hands-on creativity,” Amy Lee said. “I work closely with our team to develop and execute innovative campaigns that effectively promote NSU’s programs, events and values.”

Lee said her office targets prospective students through campaigns and engaging content to encourage them to consider NSU for college.

“I think that marketing has had a strong influence on enrollment at NSU. We strive to utilize our marketing strategies to help increase visibility, communicate the university’s strengths and connect with prospective students in meaningful ways,” Lee said.

The marketing team has implemented two new campaigns to highlight the student body with hopes of inspiring prospective students. “Demons on Fire” is all about sharing student testimonials and showcasing their successes, and “Campus 2 Community” bridges any gap between NSU and the local community by celebrating the alumni.

“By highlighting real stories from current students, prospective students can see themselves in the NSU community and feel inspired to pursue their own academic and personal goals here,” Lee said. “It’s a powerful way to connect on a personal level and show the transformative impact that NSU has on its students.”

Erikson said by targeting prospective high school students through the efforts of both the NSU recruitment and marketing teams, enrollment of first-time freshmen has shown growth.

“Our housing occupancy is up by 98 to 99% right now — which hasn’t been that way in a few years — so we’re trending upward when it comes to students returning to campus and getting back to where we were and I think that’s an important thing,” Erikson said.

Brooke Jones, senior vocal performance major, explained the effect she has seen in her classes.

“Personally, enrollment in the vocal music department seems to increase each year I’ve been here,” Jones said. “I don’t know about all the programs of course, but ours has been growing rather than declining.”

Jones compares NSU enrollment numbers to that of other universities such as Louisiana State University.

“No we don’t have numbers like LSU, but that’s what gives us a different charm and quality of life,” Jones said.

Jay Clark, junior addiction studies and psychology major, also said she enjoys attending a smaller university.

“I absolutely love having smaller classes because I feel like all of the professors’ attention can be more individualized, and professors can form better relationships with their students,” Clark said.

Clark is glad to see an increase in enrollment as she said she feels it will benefit the culture of NSU’s student body.

“The diversity drops significantly when you have smaller classes and you also have less students who can help contribute to campus organizations which affects that aspect,” Clark said. However, she said she has not seen the impact of the increased enrollment numbers in her classes.

Niklaus Jordan, sophomore nursing major, has also not seen a significant change in class attendance.

“Personally, I have not noticed a difference in my classes,” Jordan said. “As a nursing major, classes are always full because of limited time and space.”

Jordan specified that, though nothing has changed within his classes, he has seen differences around campus.

“I do feel that this semester in general, campus has seemed much busier and just more people in general, but that is not a complaint. I am happy to see the school growing,” Jordan said.

In previous years, the enrollment decline NSU experienced can be due to issues such as decreased interest among graduating high school students to attend college and financial struggles, Jordan said.

“These are issues NSU may not be able to fix because it is a national problem. I’m sure the decline in numbers in the US can and will affect NSU, but that is a broad scope,” Jordan said. “If you look at just NSU, our freshman class numbers have been steadily increasing every year.”

With the new enrollment data, the recruiting and marketing team will analyze the strategies that worked and continue to reach for higher enrollment numbers.