SCH/FTE Enrollment
This dashboard presents trends in Student Credit Hours (SCH) and the derived Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) student, which is calculated by dividing SCH by a standard divisor representing a full-time academic load. SCH/FTE data complements headcount enrollment by capturing the total volume of instruction each department delivers—including courses taken by non-majors (e.g., Mathematics, English). It provides a holistic view of institutional activity, reflecting that departments serve far more students than their declared majors alone and that shared faculty and facility resources support multiple degree programs within a single department.
The first two reports provide trends by career and student type, and by college and department. The third report shows headcount by academic load. Tracking the credit-load distribution helps identify whether changes in total SCH are driven by more students, heavier loads, or a shift toward lighter loads. Load patterns also inform course scheduling and budget projections and can signal changes in student progression.
Important Notes:
- A key benefit of SCH is that, unlike headcount, it can be summed across terms. The Term Name slicer in the first two reports enables users to select multiple terms. If you select multiple terms, make sure the most recent academic year has data for all of the selected terms. Otherwise, the trend will be incomplete and show an artificial drop. This is why the default view is set to the Fall term.
- End of Term data is the most accurate source, because it reports credit hours attempted based on final data. Like headcount, Fall Census data understates High School Dual Enrolled (HSDE) students. High school calendars don’t always align with CWU’s academic year, so not all instructional activity is entered into PeopleSoft by the day-10 census snapshot.