Due to non-returning students and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, enrollment numbers are down to 6,429 compared to the 7,531 students who attended Nicholls in fall 2005.”We’re up against the storms,” Courtney Cassard, director of enrollment services, said. “There were a lot of families who were affected that are trying to rebuild. It’s kind of hard to concentrate on school when you don’t even have a home.”

Normally there are trends in how many students will transfer from other colleges, but that has “been blown out of the water this semester,” according to Cassard.

“You add in selective admissions, then you put Katrina and Rita on top of that, and you had so many students displaced from New Orleans,” Cassard said. “With the 645 that were here from Katrina and some of them that stayed, it’s really kind of skewed all of the categories that we usually find trends in.”

The new selective admissions standards have also affected the number of students who are attending Nicholls. Some students have to begin their education at schools such as L.E. Fletcher, River Parishes Community College or Delgado Community College.

“We definitely have people that are not getting in,” Cassard said.

Although there are some students not getting into Nicholls and it has been difficult for the University, Cassard said she believes that the selective admissions standards have no negative influence.

“I think that when you look at the master plan for post secondary education and where the state can best use its resources, it’s going to achieve that purpose,” Cassard said.

According to Cassard, when a traditionally open university makes the transition to selective admissions, it is at first detrimental to enrollment numbers.

“It hurts for a couple of years,” Cassard said.

The University’s budget cuts have also affected enrollment, according to Cassard.

“If they can’t hire teachers, that affects class size and class availability,” Cassard said. “The budget cuts have been tough on everybody.”

Cassard said that the University is doing everything possible to maximize enrollment. Phone calls are being made and E-mails are being sent to students to remind them to check their schedules.