By Isaac Warren
Print Editor
SPRINGFIELD – Lincoln Land has seen a fall in enrollment in the past few years.
Spring enrollment numbers were not available at press time, but in- dications were that the decline was continuing this semester.
According to the Lincoln Land Fact Book, which came out January 2016, since 2011, fall semester enrollment numbers show an aver- age loss of about 222 students. The largest loss of students can be seen between the fall 2014 and fall 2015, with a difference of 559 students, both full-time and part-time.
There are several reasons for the decline.
Data shows that many high schools are sending fewer student to Lincoln Land after high school.
Another possibility is the improv- ing economy. College spokeswoman Lynn Whalen said in September that “an upturn in the economy, which generally in community colleges translates into more people working with less time to be in school,” she said.
This drop in enrollment seems to be trend that began around 2011. Data from 2006 through 2010 showed that Lincoln Land was actu- ally growing in size by an average of 267 students a year.
Despite falling enrollment num- bers, the retention percent has not changed much in recent years. Since 2011, an average of 86 percent of students have come back the next semester. An average of 73 percent of students actually succeeded, which is defined as earning a “C”
or higher.
Isaac Warren can be reached at [email protected]