Enrollment in Illinois’ public universities and community colleges continues to decline. That’s according to figures released by the state Board of Higher Education. The three University of Illinois campuses and Governors State University all experienced slight gains in undergraduate enrollment over the past year, but all other public universities reported declines.
Hardest hit for the second year in a row were Chicago State, with a 35% drop, and Eastern Illinois University, down 19%. Seven of the nine schools also declined in graduate student enrollment, but Southern Illinois University in Carbondale reported a 20% increase.
Overall enrollment is down by almost 3% from last year. For community colleges, the news is a bit worse, with a 5% decline compared to 2016.
