Northwest College has struggled with enrollment this year, after a nice trend of rising numbers. 

It’s unfortunate, as the college needs a good number of students to be successful. 

However, college administration, faculty and staff have done a great job responding to that issue with new programs, new enrollment enticements and new surveys to figure out why some students don’t stick around. 

That’s the mark of a college working to change the enrollment numbers, instead of finding excuses. 

One of the most exciting changes is another new program for the college, becoming the first community college in the state to have an unmanned aircraft certificate program. 

If all goes according to plan, the nine credit program should be in place for next fall. While there aren’t a lot of jobs for drone operators outside of the U.S. military — Vice President for Student Service Dave Erickson said it was hard even to provide data on job openings for the field — there are a lot of industries who are looking at using drones, from law enforcement to ag to real estate. 

So, a prospective student may very well choose NWC over another state college as a way to boost his or her resume with training on how to use drones and other similar aircraft. 

As Erickson said, it could make an applicant more employable in any number of sectors. 

And it’s not the first new program added — last year the college pushed through a new computer science program and a first-of-its-kind program to train students to work in ski operations. 

If those aren’t enough, the college is also offering a free class to prospective students in the spring semester. 

As President Lisa Watson said, it could be for someone on the fence about attending, a way to dip their toe in the water, or simply an incentive for someone wanting to get more bang for their buck. 

Added to that, the college is freeing up money for spring entry scholarships and this semester surveyed students living on campus to see what issues they were having, with the goal of being able to fix those if possible to avoid students departing between semesters. 

Enrollment loss happens due to a number of issues, and NWC is doing well to address it in a number of ways.