Freshmen applications to Fort Lewis College are on the rise, boosted by a strong showing from American Indians.

Overall, freshmen applications were up 50 percent as of Feb. 24, according to an email from Andrew Burns, FLC’s director of admission. Applications from American Indian students were up 70 percent, compared with a year ago.

FLC even hired two temporary staffers from an employment agency to handle the application volume, Burns’ email said.

FLC is working to recover its enrollment. The college’s enrollment fell to 3,776 students in fall 2014, down 7.1 percent from the previous fall, when FLC enrolled 4,065 students.

Burns’ email said the wave of American Indian applicants “could have a sizable impact” on freshmen enrollment and the “dollar amount associated with (the) Native American Tuition Waiver.”

American Indian students receive free tuition at FLC. The college is reimbursed by state funds. The waiver’s price tag has become a political issue, and FLC President Dene Kay Thomas flew to Washington, D.C., in February to lobby for federal help.

cslothower@durangoherald.com