According to NMU’s Office for Institutional Research and Analysis, enrollment at NMU for W21 is down 495 or 7.3% compared to last year at this time. This drop clearly indicates the impact of Covid-19 on enrollment. The decline is 301 or 4.5 percent when compared to enrollment for December of 2019.

However, admissions data for F21 indicates the potential for a more positive long-term scenario. Applications and freshman admits are up from last year and freshman orientation is up significantly from previous years. “I think it’s a good sign that the percentage of admits registered for orientation this year is higher,” says Gerri Daniels, Director of Admissions at NMU. According to Daniels, 32 percent of freshman admits typically enroll at NMU, so her current estimate on freshman enrollment for F21 is 1,475. If this holds, freshman enrollment would be up around eight percent from F20 but down about three percent from the average freshman enrollment between F16 and F19. Daniels added that about three percent of freshman admits are not current high school seniors. This indicates some of these students may have decided to take a “gap year” between high school and college due to Covid-19.