Some Illinois community colleges see summer enrollment boost

CHICAGO (AP) - Some community colleges in Illinois have seen an increase in student enrollment over the summer, but officials are waiting to see if that will continue in the fall.

College of Lake County, Harper College and the College of DuPage have all reported higher enrollment numbers, the Chicago Tribune reported.

New student applications have increased by 4% from last year at DuPage, President Brian Caputo said. He said lower tuition prices could be at play.

“We’re certainly optimistic that there will be some sort of bump, but we’re also realistic in that there’s a lot of different variables going on,” Caputo said.

Some families have decided to send their children to two-year colleges since most universities expect students to pay the same price for virtual instruction that they would for in-person classes.

Local students pay an average of $3,440 for tuition at two-year community colleges but would pay an in-state rate of $9,410 at four-year universities, according to College Board figures.

Madeleine Rhyneer, vice president and dean of enrollment at the education research firm EAB, said the numbers will likely fluctuate until students make their final choices when classes start next month.

“If a bunch of students who are committed to four-year schools in the next three weeks say, ‘You know what? I’m just not doing that. I’m going to defer for a year … or I’m going to withdraw and reapply a year from now or six months from now,’ then I think we definitely could see a bump in community college enrollments,” Rhyneer said.

Harper, DuPage and Oakton Community College’s fall enrollment numbers are down from last year, but they predict numbers will change when schools are about to open.

Harper’s summer enrollment increased by 15% from last year, but fall is behind by about 4%, said spokeswoman Kim Pohl, which she noted could be because the school opened registration six weeks later due to the pandemic.

“While enrollment for continuing students is up, we’re seeing a number of prospective new students delaying making a decision,” Pohl said in an email. She added that most have said they are waiting to see what four-year colleges and universities are going to do.