Academic Profile

Academic Profile Fall 2023

Data Source:  Northeastern Banner/Cognos ODS and Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE).  

NOTE:  There will always be slight differences in numbers on this report and various official reporting dates.  This is due to data constantly changing and updating daily during the course of the semester and the academic year.

Highlights

• Northeastern welcomed students from 30 counties across Colorado; 29 states across the U.S.; and 22 countries around the world.

   

• Overall enrollment increased by 3.9% from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023 and enrollment of new first time students increased by 5.6%.

   

• Four hundred fifteen (415) high school students attended Northeastern in 2022-2023 from 30 school districts and attempted 5,358 credits.

   

Student Demographics

Fall 2023 was comprised of 1,502 students which included 535 students (36%) from Logan County; 485 (32%) from Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington and Yuma Counties; 335 (22%) from 30 counties throughout Colorado; 106 (7%) from 29 states, with Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming having the most students attending Northeastern.  NJC welcomed 41 (3%) International students from 22 countries around the world, including France, Japan, and the Russian Federation.

There were 685 (46%) full-time students and 817 (54%) part-time students. The top line in the chart below represents the total number of students attending Northeastern in the past five years. 

The percentage of full-time female students was 55% while male students totaled 45%; however, when comparing the number of part time female and male students, the number of male students is significantly less at 29% than females at 71%.

The significant difference in the part time numbers has been a common trend for the past five years; however, this difference has increased over the past two years. 

Twenty-one percent (21%) of Northeastern students were new first time, while 26% were high school students (also known as high school concurrent). Seven percent (7%) of students transferred in from another college and the remaining 46% were continuing. 

Seventy-two percent (72%) of students at Northeastern for Fall 2023 were age 28 and under; this group is known as Generation Z.  This compares to 71% for Fall 2022 and 74% for Fall 2021. 

Forty-one percent (41%) of Northeastern students are working toward Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of General Studies degrees while 18% are working toward Applied Science degrees. Twelve percent (12%) are working toward certificates in a variety of subjects.

The following chart summarizes the percentage of students who are working toward transfer out degrees (Associate of Arts, Science, and General Studies), and the percentage who are working toward Career/Technical degrees.  From Fall 2017 to Fall 2020, transfer out programs had been decreasing and career/tech programs had been increasing.  For Fall 2021, the reverse happened and for Fall 2022, Career/Tech programs continued decreasing.  For Fall 2023, transfer degrees have decreased, while Career/Technical degrees have increased.  The number of non-degree seeking and undecided has stayed at 29% over the past two years.  The rise over the past several years of Non-Degree Seeking and Undecided percentage is mostly the result of an increasing population of high school concurrent students along with teachers attending re-certification courses.  High School Concurrent students are often listed as Undecided and teachers are listed as Non-Degree Seeking.  The chart below has been extended to seven years in order to see the changes of these groups over time.

When looking at race/ethnicity of all students at Northeastern, White non-Hispanic students account for the largest category with 73% while Students of Color account for 20%.  When looking at full time students only, White non-Hispanic students account for 64% of the student population while Students of Color account for 28%.  For Students of Color this compares to 28% for the previous two years. 

Hispanic students account for the largest percentage of Students of Color with 75%. This compares to 74% for Fall 2022 and 74% for Fall 2021.  Northeastern has continued to see the Hispanic student population increase in the last few years. 

Of the 1,502 Northeastern students, 46% have identified themselves as first generation.  This compares to 46% for Fall 2022 and 49% for Fall 2021.  Sixty-six percent (66%) of those are female students.

New First Time and Transfer Students

Northeastern welcomed 317 new first time students for Fall 2023 and 89% of these students attended full time.  Of the full time students, 46% were male, 51% were first generation, 36% were PELL eligible, and 26% were Students of Color.  Of these 281 full time students, 26% were from Logan County, 10% were from the remaining service area, 45% were from other parts of Colorado, 12% were from out of state, and 6% were International students.

Northeastern obtained high school GPA on 208 (66%) new first time students.  Sixty-four percent (64%) of students who submitted a high school GPA earned a 3.0 or above while in high school.  This compares to 50% earning a 3.0 or above GPA for their first semester at Northeastern.

When looking at success measures for new first-time, full-time students at Northeastern, it has been found that students who are both first generation and PELL eligible tend to fall behind their peers in first semester GPA and the percentage of credits earned.

The first chart below shows the average first semester (term) GPA of all new first time students by demographic status.  Students who are non-first generation/non-PELL eligible are succeeding at higher rates.  The yellow line represents the average term GPA of non-first generation/non-PELL eligible students in Fall 2023 to show the contrast between the rates of success. Students who were both first generation and PELL eligible had an average term GPA of just 2.47 while non first generation/non PELL eligible students had a term GPA of 2.94. 

The same is true when looking at the percentage of credits earned.  For Fall 2023, non-first generation/non-PELL eligible students earned 88% of the credits they attempted while students who were both first generation and PELL eligible earned just 82%.

When comparing Fall 2023 to the three previous Fall semesters, for students who are both first generation and PELL eligible, gains have been made.  However, the gains are mostly due to the number of Students of Color decreasing and the number of White non-Hispanic students increasing within this specific group.

High School Concurrent (also known as Dual Enrollment)

For the academic year 2022-2023, Northeastern provided college coursework to 415 high school students from 30 school districts.  These students attempted 5,358 credits.

Twenty-five percent (25%) became new first time students which compares to 23% in Fall 2022 and 25% in Fall 2021.

Sterling/Caliche and Merino had the highest percentage of high school concurrent students who become new first time students at Northeastern after high school graduation; while Akron, Julesburg, Peetz, and Revere did not have any high school concurrent students attending.

A list of the high school seniors that did not attend Northeastern was sent to National Student Clearinghouse where it was found that 54% entered 4-year colleges, 11% entered 2-year colleges, and the remaining 35% did not have any college enrollment data.  Less common majors listed for this group include Marine Biology, Cyber Security, Creative Writing and Zoology. 

For Fall 2023, there were 390 high school/less than high school students attending Northeastern.  The majority were part time students; however, 16% were full time students.  This compares to 9% for Fall 2022 and 14% for Fall 2021.  Fifty-nine percent (59%) were female, 21% were Students of Color, 39% were from Logan County, 47% were from the service area and 12% were from other parts of Colorado. Thirty-nine percent (39%) were first generation. 

This group of students earned 93% of the 2,597 credits attempted which compares with 94% for Fall 2022.

The average term GPA for Fall 2023 for high school students was 3.17, while the average cumulative GPA was 3.28.  This compares to term GPA of 3.04 and cumulative GPA of 3.20 for Fall 2022.

Financial Aid     

The financial aid data seen below are gathered from the IPEDS (Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System) student financial aid survey.  In 2022-2023, the total amount of grant aid awarded was $ 5,943,914 making the average amount per student $ 6,237.  The total amount of loan aid awarded was $ 1,764,060 making the average loan amount per student $ 5,582.  

Overall, 953 students were awarded some form of aid in 2022-23.  Five hundred forty students (540) were awarded PELL grants and 316 students were awarded federal loans.  The chart below shows the percentages and type of aid for new full time students.  Overall, students’ received more institutional aid than was received from federal or state/local aid as well as federal loans.           

Conclusion

Overall enrollment increased by 3.9% from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023 and enrollment of new first time students increased by 5.6%.  The number of high school concurrent students continues to increase along with the number of school districts served.  The percentage of full time male students is decreasing and the gap has widened even further for part time male students.

Northeastern celebrates the successes of increased enrollment including high school concurrent students, while continuing to face challenges in a number of areas such as decreasing numbers of male students, Students of Color, and advancing equity for students who are first generation and Pell eligible. Northeastern moves in to the future facing successes as well as challenges in providing a quality education for all.