Illinois’ community colleges see nearly 9% spike in spring enrollment

Enrollment at Illinois community colleges grew to more than 285,000 in the spring semester this year, an 8.9% increase over a year ago and the largest spring-to-spring enrollment increase since the Illinois Community College Board began collecting systemwide data in the late 1990s.

In a report released Tuesday, the ICCB said 40 of the state’s 45 community colleges reported enrollment growth this spring.

Several suburban community colleges saw double-digit percentage increases in enrollment this spring compared to spring 2024: College of DuPage (12.5%), College of Lake County (10.4%), Elgin Community College (14.6%) and Waubonsee Community College (15.9%). That same trend can be seen at Harper College (6.3%), McHenry County College (7.3%), and Oakton College (1.7%).

Systemwide, there was significant growth in several enrollment categories, including a nearly 20% increase in students enrolled in dual-credit programs, which allow high school students to earn college credits. But there was an even greater increase, 23.4%, in students seeking general associate degree programs.

At Elgin Community College, which offers dual-credit classes at its Elgin campus and at four school districts — Elgin Area School District U-46, Community Unit District 300, Central Unit District 301, and St. Charles Unit District 303 — enrollment growth in students under 17 increased by 64% over spring 2024.

“We are increasing dual credit on campus, but we are vastly increasing the amount of dual credit that we offer in the high school environment,” ECC President Peggy Heinrich said.

ECC’s largest year-over-year enrollment increases this spring are in English as a Second Language (16%), university transfer (18%), career and technical education (7%), and adult basic and secondary education (8%), Heinrich added.

“The majority of that growth both in university transfer and career and technical education (is) within the dual-credit area,” she added.

Heinrich attributes these increases to more people choosing community colleges because of their affordability and the shorter training time of career and technical education programs that allow students to enter the workforce sooner.

ECC’s spring 2025 enrollment of 11,256 students also far exceeds prepandemic levels — in 2017, it was 9,689 students and dipped to 7,678 students in 2021.

Harper College in Palatine also is seeing enrollment rebound to prepandemic levels, particularly in career programs that offer more hands-on, practical experience, said Ruth Williams, Harper College provost.

This spring, the college’s enrollment is 16,710 students. Student retention is up 3.9%.

“A lot of our areas are rebounding but some are doing better than others,” said Williams. “We have really been focusing on our retention efforts to make sure that students that are here are finishing what they start.”

Harper’s dual-credit classes offered to Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Barrington Area Unit District 220 students are responsible partly for the increase — up 10.6% from last spring.

“With the largest spring-to-spring enrollment increase and the third straight year of growth, our community colleges have not only bounced back from the pandemic — they are now stronger than ever thanks to our historic investments in education,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement.

Since Fiscal Year 2019, state funding for the Monetary Award Program — also known as MAP grants, the state’s need-based financial aid program — has increased 77%, to just over $710 million. During that time, Illinois has increased the number of grants it awards each year to more than 151,000 this year, as well as the maximum grant amount, which now stands at $8,604.

For Fiscal Year 2026, which begins July 1, Pritzker has proposed another $10 million increase in MAP grants, bringing the total to $721.6 million.

Martin Torres, Pritzker’s deputy governor for education policy, said increased funding for financial aid has made higher education in Illinois more accessible to moderate-income students, especially those who choose to attend a community college.

Illinois community colleges also saw year-over-year enrollment increases in the fall semester. ICCB reported in October the total headcount enrollment had grown to 265,227, up 7.4% from the previous fall. That also was a higher growth rate than the state’s public universities, which saw only a 2% increase in undergraduate enrollment over that same period, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

In his budget address to the General Assembly in February, Pritzker proposed allowing community colleges to offer four-year bachelor’s degrees in high-demand career fields in their local areas. He said that is intended to make four-year programs more accessible to people who don’t live in or near cities with major universities.

Torres said he expects that legislation to come up soon in the General Assembly, possibly as early as this week.