Enrollment at Elgin Community College is up 7.8% from last fall, building on a trend the school has been seeing for at least a year.
Total enrollment for the semester will surpass 9,800 students after the late fall start dates of some classes, according to information provided by the college.
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“I am highly encouraged by the strength of our enrollment,” ECC President David Sam said in the releease.
The enrollment trend at ECC mirrors what’s happening across the state.
While Illinois’ community colleges saw dramatic enrollment dips during the pandemic, the total number of students rose 1.5% in the fall 2022 compared to the prior fall, according to the Illinois Community College Board.
In March, the board reported the spring 2023 headcount was 7.3% higher than what it was in spring 2022. The report for this fall is set to be released later in October.
Sam said ECC’s enrollment has been increasing each semester since fall 2022. The college saw one of its highest recent enrollments in the fall of 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is within 3% of that number with this fall’s class, he said.
“The people of our community are returning to improve their lives through learning at ECC,” he said.
Several factors are contributing to the college’s continued growth, Sam said.
ECC in recent years has increased the number of hybrid and online classes it offers, he said. The college also has launched five new programs and expanded others to train workers for in-demand fields.
Several career and technical programs have seen double or even triple-digit enrollment increases in the past two years, school officials said. Those include big enrollment increases in ECC’s truck driving, emergency medical technician/paramedic, early childhood education and cybersecurity programs.
At the same time, ECC is becoming more diverse, numbers show. Compared to last fall, the college has seen an increase of more than 5% in the number of Asian and Black students and an increase of more than 21% in the number of Hispanic students, according to information provided by the school.
The number of students who are 30 or older has increased by 13% since last fall as well. And dual credit enrollment increased by 13%, with a record-high 1,231 students earning college credit while still attending high school either at their home school or on ECC’s campus.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.