Illinois Central College has enjoyed years of steady enrollment increases, expanded program offerings and new facility development after the COVID pandemic increased the strain on higher education around the country.
While the institution is enjoying another enrollment increase for the summer semester, ICC president Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey said the school is keeping a close eye on several pieces of federal and state legislation and their potential impact.
One of the most alarming, she said, is proposed changes to federal Pell grants that provide funds to undergraduate, low-income students in an attempt to make college accessible.
Under federal proposals in the budget megabill that passed the U.S. House, the annual individual cap on Pell funds would be lowered by $2,000, federal work study programs would be scaled back and credit hour requirements bumped from 12 to 15 hours to qualify for the maximum funding.
Quirk-Bailey said the credit hour increase could have a significant impact on the 40% of ICC students on Pell grants, especially considering 70% of those students are part time.
“There are an awful lot of students we serve who have families, who have to work, so that extra load may be enough to make them say, ‘Well, I can’t do this right now,’” she said. “So we’re very concerned with the current changes that are recommended.”
Ultimately, Quirk-Bailey said institutions like ICC are concerned about a noticeable drop in enrollment if more non-traditional students find themselves unable to receive grants.
Loans risk
Another notable higher education policy proposed by the Trump administration is putting some of the risk of loans onto the institutions where students attend. Quirk-Bailey thinks the proposal is focused on discouraging students from pursuing an education in fields that may not quickly and reliably pay off their loans.
“I don’t think it’s the federal government’s position to say that we shouldn’t teach things. I think learning is a value in and of itself, regardless of whether it’s immediately tied to the job market,” she said. “I want the highest level of economic mobility I can get for my students. And at the same time, what we find is, mid-career, your liberal arts majors are things where it takes a little time to get grounded and get started, those majors do really well mid-career, too.”
Beyond concerns about educational offerings, there’s also just not sufficient infrastructure for a program like the one proposed, Quirk-Bailey said. Many students attend multiple schools over the course of one loan, or may even split classes between two schools at the same time.
“So whose responsibility is that? Is it split? Is it the last institution a student went to? Is it the one where they originally took out the loan?” she said. “We don’t have systems to track any of that, and even if we did, there are very few people left at the Department of Education who would be able to figure that out.”
International students
The ICC administration also is keeping a close eye on increasing restrictions on international students.
Quirk-Bailey said there are around 200 such studentscurrently enrolled at ICC, adding interested international students still want to attend ICC, but the paperwork is becoming more difficult.
“I think that could be a huge loss for this country that could have impacts for decades. I think the same thing about the research money going away, because there are still places to do research,” Quirk-Bailey said. “They are mostly in Europe and Asia right now. That could be a huge brain drain for the American educational system, which you don’t recover from in a couple of years.”
On the state level, Quirk-Bailey said the college’s administration continues to monitor Gov. JB Pritzker’s proposal to allow community colleges to offer some four-year degree programs.
When contacted about the bill earlier this year, ICC officials told WCBU they had to consider the needs of the community before committing to pursuing any baccalaureate programs.
Quirk-Bailey said it’s important to understand there are guidelines in place governing what degrees can be offered and how many programs can exist in a specific geographic area.
“We’re not talking about full scale, you know, I’m offering psych and soc and, we’re not. That’s not what we’re talking about,” she said. “And I’ve already made the commitment from an ICC standpoint, we will not be pursuing the nursing degree at the baccalaureate level.”
For ICC, the baccalaureate programs would offer an opportunity to fill gaps in the region, offering degrees not already broadly offered by schools like Methodist College, Bradley University, OSF College of Nursing and Eureka College.
“I think there’s this misconception about direct competition, when really there are different types of degrees,” said Quirk-Bailey.
Shortened courses and on-campus housing
Focusing directly on campus, ICC is around halfway to shortening the majority of its courses to an eight-week term. The institution announced the initiative about a year ago.
Quirk-Bailey expects to be about 80% of the way finished with shortening courses by the start of the next fall semester. She said students have been generally receptive to the change.
Advocates say the change allows students more flexibility to fit more courses into certain semesters, depending on the topics they’re grouped with.
“Everyone’s got that topic they need a little more time on. So whether that’s the English course where you’re doing a lot of writing, or whether that’s your math course, take that in the eight week segment when you’re only taking one other course,” said Quirk-Bailey. “So you have time to focus on that, whereas the things that you may enjoy more, that you’re better at, things you breeze through, take those in the other eight week segment.”
The eight-week courses shouldn’t be thought of as teaching at double the speed. Quirk-Bailey said the session lengths are adjusted so it’s the same total minutes of instruction, just with more frequent or longer sessions.
“It really is a different approach to learning. And I’m really proud of our faculty who are digging into that and getting that done and they’re excited about it, too,” she said.
Quirk-Bailey said, so far, student success rates are higher in eight-week courses than the same 16-week courses. However, it’s still early and the college continues to monitor performance as the full transition continues.
The college also is currently navigating the end of on-campus housing. ICC announced the closure of the WoodView Commons apartment facility in March. The service provided on-campus housing for just over 300 students at maximum capacity.
Quirk-Bailey said, at this point, students who found themselves in need of a summer housing option have been placed through partnerships with Bradley University, Methodist College and about five private apartment complexes throughout the Peoria region.
WoodView was not directly operated by ICC, but by a separate LLC through the education foundation that is required by state law. Quirk-Bailey compared the mounting costs on the facility to a home mortgage and described the bond as “upside down.”
“The only way to move forward was to have the legal process move forward. So however that ends, with an auction or a short sale, or whatever that will be, it will be,” she said. “And then we can talk about how we move forward.”
Quirk-Bailey said she is not ruling out on-campus housing at ICC in the future, but it’s far too early to say anything definitive.
“I’m very confident that, until this settles, we’ve got a way to take care of people and once the dust has settled, I’m hopeful that we can find a way to re-establish,” she said.
