College of the North Atlantic has increased its total enrolment by 8.3 per cent over the previous year, and when programs with later start dates in the 2015-2016 academic year are included in the data, overall enrolment is projected to increase by 10.2 per cent by March 2016.
Four schools had increases in enrolment over the 12-month period; the most notable of which was the School of Health Sciences (53 per cent) with the Schools of Academics, Applied Arts & Tourism (13 per cent), Engineering Technology & Natural Resources (three per cent) and Industrial Trades (three per cent). The School of Business & Information Technology remained steady over the past year.
“The college continues to work with industry partners and local employers to meet their requirements for a skilled workforce and to provide additional training opportunities,” said Ann Marie Vaughan, President and CEO of College of the North Atlantic. “We have seen significant increases in our enrolment over the past number of years as we continue our proactive approach of filling skills gaps identified across all sectors of the provincial economy.”
These figures include all students in regular college programs and those in contract training programs which run a minimum of 11 weeks. In terms of the actual number of students, the college has seen an increase of 475 over the last year.
The significant increase in Health Sciences can be attributed to additional offerings of Practical Nursing and Personal Care Attendant at new and existing campus locations, the addition of a new program in Health Informatics through distance education and more efficiently managing our current program enrollments.
“The college continues to focus on increasing capacity in program areas which show a high demand from students and the labour market,” said President Vaughan. “Aging demographics and retirements have highlighted shortages in the health care sector in this province. By working with the Department of Health, Regional Health Authorities and others, we have responded to that need. This need becomes an opportunity for students who desire a career in these fields.”
Enrolment has increased between September 2014 and September 2015 at 11 of the 17 college locations including Bay St. George (nine per cent), Bonavista (22 per cent), Burin (16 per cent), Carbonear (73 per cent), Clarenville (nine per cent), Corner Brook (14 per cent), Distributed Learning Service (17 per cent), Gander (seven per cent), Happy Valley-Goose Bay (14 per cent), Labrador West (13 per cent) and Prince Philip Drive in St. John’s (11 per cent).
Program related increases included in the project figure for March 2016 will in-part be attributed to furthering the establishment of a Heavy Equipment Industrial Trades Centre of Excellence at the Bay St. George campus, which among other program areas will see an increase in Heavy Equipment Operator, Mobile Crane Operator and Commercial Driver students.
President Vaughan does say there were some campuses which had a decline in numbers, but that the college will continue to explore training opportunities at those locations.
“The college has the ability to mount programs at various points during the academic year, so we are constantly looking at new offerings at any number of our campuses,” said President Vaughan.
For more information on College of the North Atlantic or any of its program offerings, visit www.cna.nl.ca.
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Media Contact:
Roger Hulan
Communications Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7938
roger.hulan@cna.nl.ca