CROWN POINT | The University of Saint Francis Crown Point has seen a 50 percent increase in enrollment in 2008 from 50 to 75 students for the university's fall semester that began Aug. 25.

"Despite the downturn in the economy, it's exciting to see the numbers grow as they did," said Cheryl Mioduski, the Crown Point enrollment manager.

Opened in 2006, the Crown Point campus of the Fort Wayne-based university currently leases space in St. Anthony Medical Center and offers a masters degree for family nurse practitioning, for community health education and in healthcare administration. It also offers a program for registered nurses to prepare to for graduate level classes.

In a Monday morning maternity nursing class, a student held a baby mannequin, giving it a newborn assessment as a handful of other students looked on.

"Let's say the baby's not making any sounds at all," the student, already a maternity nurse, said, "I always say 'a healthy baby is a crying baby.' So I'm going to be trying to figure out what's wrong."

The class is part of one of the university's oldest and most popular programs that allows licensed nurse practitioners to get their associate science of nursing degree, putting them closer to becoming a registered nurse after they take their boards. Mioduski said the transition from an LPN to RN can result in a 40 percent salary increase.

The program increased from 28 to 34 students including Katrina Schabacker, of Peotone Ill., who said she enrolled because she can't move into management at the adult day care center she works for unless she is a registered nurse.

Mioduski attributes the overall enrollment increase partially to the school's flexible schedule, offering classes full- and part-time, onsite, online and through distance learning.

That's the case for Laura Traficante, Valparaiso, the mother of 5-year-old triplets and an 8-year-old son, who enrolled at the university after checking out other programs. She hopes to have her degree to transition from a licensed nurse practitioner to a registered nurse in about 18 months.