Ivy Tech Community College Northwest set the pace for statewide enrollment, with 26.5 percent more students enrolled on the first day of school Monday.

The Northwest region enrolled 6,050 students for the first day of class. The majority of those students enrolled at the Gary campus. Numbers at the Gary campus were up compared to last year by 800 students, or about 50 percent. Gary had an enrollment of 2,413 students.

In a statement released by the college, Chancellor J. Guadalupe Valtierra said the Northwest campus' growing enrollment reflects the college's responsiveness to the educational and work force needs in Northwest Indiana.

Ivy Tech Northwest spokeswoman Karen Williams said the Valparaiso campus's enrollment growth was fourth in the state, with an increase of 22 percent. Its enrollment on the first day was 2,381 students. The East Chicago and Michigan City campuses each grew by 4 percent. Each of Ivy Tech's 14 campuses across the state experienced growth.

Ivy Tech has a total statewide enrollment this fall of 86,130 students.

Williams said the Northwest region is seeing more students taking more credit hours, with a record high total of 3,520 credit hours.

"More people are discovering the community college, its affordability and that credits transfer to the universities," Williams said.

Purdue University North Central in Westville said preliminary numbers show 4,130 students taking 44,500 credit hours. The student count shows an increase of 226 students, or 5.79 percent increase.

Most other local colleges and universities did not release statistics, saying it's early and numbers are still preliminary.