Mangum’s alma mater NCCU reverses enrollment decline with freshmen GPAs at 3.21

FAMU President Elmira Mangum speaking at NCCU's commencement on May 13, 2016

At the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Graduate and Professional Commencement back on May 13, FAMU President Elmira Mangum talked about how much she learned in the school’s classrooms while she was a student there. Today, there’s quite a bit NCCU could teach her about effective enrollment management.

NCCU had two straight years of falling enrollment caused by the federal financial aid program overhaul in 2011. Enrollment went from 8,604 in Fall 2012 to 8,093 in Fall 2013. It then went down again in Fall 2014 to 7,687.

But NCCU Chancellor Debra Saunders-White, who started on June 1, 2013, has reversed the enrollment drop and brought in a strong class of freshman students. The NCCU freshmen in Fall 2015 had an average GPA of 3.21 and overall enrollment went up to 8,011.

The freshman class at FAMU had a slightly higher average GPA at 3.40 in Fall 2015. That’s a difference of 0.19 with NCCU.

But the biggest difference is in the effect on the financial condition of the two universities.

NCCU gained in its tuition and fees because of the enrollment boost in Fall 2015. FAMU’s enrollment in Fall 2015 dropped to 9,920 (down from 10,233 in Fall 2014) under Mangum. The decline cost FAMU $9M+ from tuition and fee losses. FAMU expects to lose about another $10.5M due to its projected loss of 920 students in 2016-2017.

NCCU has to compete for strong in-state students against North Carolina A&T University, the largest single campus historically black college or university (HBCU) in the nation. It also has competition from three other in-state public HBCUs and from big schools like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

Mangum is paid $425,000 per year. Saunders-White earns $95,000 less at $330,000 per year.