University College of the North (UCN) says the number of people registered in its programs as of Feb. 28 was 2,699 students, up from 1,842 in 2018 and the most it has ever been since the institution was founded in 2004.
Enrolment growth has been most significant in programs at the school’s network of 12 post-secondary access centres around Northern Manitoba and other off-site locations, having grown by 82.7 per cent since last year, and in workplace skills development, which had 746 students at the end of last month, 578 more than the 168 it had on the same date in 2018, a 344 per cent increase.
“UCN is committed to education Northern Manitobans and preparing them for employment opportunities in the north,” said UCN president and chancellor Doug Lauvstad. “We are very proud that UCN is able to serve ever more northerners!”
Enrolment also increased in certificate programs, led by the educational assistant certificate program, up 115.2 per cent since last year, and the health care aide certificate programs, which saw the number of students enrolled go up 95.6 per cent. Overall, certificate programs are up 39.2 per cent from Feb. 28, 2019.
Enrolment went up 39.7 per cent at the Thompson campus and 20.4 per cent at the campus in The Pas.
UCN did not provide numbers for these programs apart from the percentages but overall enrolment for the 2017-18 academic year was 2,051 students, so the growth this year has been about 31 per cent overall. Final 2018-19 enrolment numbers will be released sometime after June.
“Our enrolment growth reflects UCN’s commitment to increase engagement with industry and with northern communities,” said UCN’s academic and research vice-president Dan Smith. “Our efforts have paid off with exceptional growth in industry-related and community-delivered programming, and next year we add a focus on increases in degree and diploma program enrolment. Our recruiters and our faculty and our staff have been working very hard to connect northerners with high-quality and accessible education opportunities!”
The last enrolment count on Nov. 30 of last year showed that there were 2,175 students enrolled in all programs, an increase of 641 students or about 42 per cent from the enrolment of 1,534 on Nov. 30, 2017. At then end of September 2018, there were a total of 1,411 students enrolled, up from 1,239 at the end of September 2017. Enrolment in certificate, diploma and degree programs that are funded and tracked by the provincial government had risen nearly 11 per cent since the previous year at that time, while continuing education and contract training-programs geared towards supporting industry and individual needs, were up from 123 students in September 2017 to 176 a year later. UCN said at that time that the enrolment count would grow over the course of the year as new programs started and as each term progressed, noting that continuing education and contract training programs generally start low and grow throughout the academic year.
The Northern Workforce Development Centre was established at the Thompson campus last May to offer education and training in response to labour market changes in the region.
The provincial government’s college review recommended last spring that UCN offer more contract training opportunities and also increase graduation rates.
