SPRINGFIELD — Lincoln Land Community College saw a 3.4 percent decrease in enrollment this semester compared to last fall.
All of LLCC’s campuses combined to have7,035 students on the 10th day of classes, which is down 244 students from this time last year.
The credit hours those students are taking is also down 1.3 percent from last year.
“There are fewer high school students in the pipeline to college overall,” said Lynn Whalen, Lincoln Land’s executive director of public relations.
A recent study by Western Illinois University said that there will be fewer than 8,000 graduates by 2015 than in 2011.
She said projections for next semester’s enrollment have not yet been made.
But despite this, Whalen attributed the decline to the status of the economy.
“This decrease was expected and reflects a state and national trend,” she said. “Traditionally, as the economy improves, community college enrollment experiences a decrease.”
Additionally, since declining enrollments are occurring nationally, some schools — especially in Illinois — have recently made efforts to recruit students from the Chicago metropolitan areas. Chicago has been known to have a large market for college students.
“We do not recruit outside of our district, which includes all or parts of 15 counties in Central Illinois,” Whalen said. “Students outside our district are served by community colleges in their areas.”
She said the college sends some recruitment staff members to high schools, business and agencies in its district for promotion and advertising. The college also holds three Campus Visit Days each year for prospective students.
Whalen said the enrollment decline was only part of the recent budget cuts at LLCC.
“Enrollment is one factor in the overall financial picture of the college. State funding has declined over the past years, and we are carefully eyeing the pension reform debate in the state legislature,” she said. “These factors have contributed to the college continuing its conservative approach to budgeting. There have been no across-the-board budget cuts to the college.”
Lincoln Land recently cut a portion of the Student Life’s budget and some computer lab hours. But Whalen said those cuts were not a direct result of enrollment declines.
“For the past year, in light of budget concerns, all personnel vacancies have been evaluated,” Whalen said. “Sometimes, reorganization of offices occurs, as was the case with Student Life.”
Lincoln Land has had about 16,300 students in noncredit and credit courses in the fiscal year 2014. New courses and programs start at different times in the year, so the enrollment may vary.
“We continue to spread the word about our affordability, high-quality education and to focus on efforts to promote student success and competition.”
Ryan Wilson can be reached at [email protected] or 217-786-2311.