By Cheryl Jahn

Domestic student recruitment a new direction

Mar 27, 2025 | 1:49 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The hallways at the College of New Caledonia are busy these days, but what they will look like come September will likely be vastly different, with the federal government limiting the number of international students. However, the College says it has actually seen an increase in the enrolment of domestic students in the last four intakes.

“That’s because of the work we’ve been doing with our strategic enrollment management,” explains Shelley Carter-Rose, Vice President of Academics at CNC. “And so we’re enhancing it. I say to the staff, ‘Okay, we’ve been doing really good. We’re going to put it on steroids, we’re going to amp it up, we’re going to do more.’ We’re going to be very intentional about looking at our market and really working with our school districts has been a priority.”

Those three school districts are Quesnel, Vanderhoof and Prince George, which are anticipating a decline in numbers.

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“So we’re just over 13,000 students right now with a larger number in graduating years of grade 12 in Grade 11, and a smaller number of kindergartens coming in,” explains Craig Brennan, Chair of the School 57 Board. “So our numbers are going to hold close to 13,000 over the next two years, and they’ll start to tail off towards the following years, down to about 11 and a half thousand.”

But the College, after consulting with the region’s school districts has discovered it may have to amend how it presents to graduates post-COVID.

“The student readiness and their preparedness is not the same. Yes, they finish their high school diploma, but they need a little extra help, a little more support in the transition. They need a little more guidance in high school. They’re seeing that. So we’re going to work together between the school districts and us how we can create a seamless transition, a good experience for students so they’ll be successful.”

Another target for the College with the thinning of international students? Adult students.

“So that’s typical for a college. So we have a nice blend in a classroom of younger students, people coming back or people in our trades programs, they come back and retrain or retrain. So it gives us a good diversity in terms of our students. We know we are more attraction for older students based on the program. And so those we know will be more attractive to a younger student. How do we maximize that? Is sort of the secret sauce that we’re trying to find there you can use secrets of.”

The College typically finds when the economy is in a slump, enrolment rises and vice versa.