Fort Lewis College has gotten an answer to a question it asked about a year ago: Can we increase enrollment if we hire Royall: Enrollment Management? The answer is an unqualified “Yes.”

President Dene Thomas shared some numbers with the school’s trustees, who were in town this week for their bimonthly meeting. The number of students who have applied compared with 2015 at this time is up 80 percent.

“We’ve been closely watching to see if the way we’re inching up admission standards will impact the number of students we are able to accept,” Thomas said. All Colorado four-year colleges are required to meet higher admission standards by 2019. “And I’m pleased to say it hasn’t. The number of freshman admits for fall 2016 are up 154 percent over 2015.”

The most critical number is how many of those students who are accepted confirm they plan to attend FLC, and the beginning of February is a little early to know how that will shake out. But confirmations are also up, by 60 percent over a year ago at this time, an important trend for the college’s financial sustainability.

The one-year contract with Royall cost $215,000, said FLC Admissions Director Andy Burns.

“Colorado as a state is our primary market with Royall,” he said. “We do have a few secondary markets – New Mexico; Arizona; Austin, Texas; and Southern California, where we often get pockets of students.”

While the numbers aren’t as large, the trend for transfer students is also on its way up, doubling from nine to 18. Thomas was also happy to tell the board the retention of freshmen from fall to spring semester is up from 84.5 percent to 89.4 percent.

Students will see an average room and board increase of 2.3 percent beginning fall 2016, after the FLC Board of Trustees approved a recommendation by Associate Vice President of Finance and Administration Michele Peterson. Mandatory fees will remain the same, but the board approved some course fee increases, particularly for art classes. Art 101: Drawing I, for example, will increase from $10 to $75.