Weak economy helps boost college enrollment in Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- A weak economy and larger population of 18-year-olds are driving up college enrollment across the state, including at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where officials are trying to reverse a decline in student numbers.

SIU-C's student tally increased by 1 percent this fall over last year, a modest gain but one that Chancellor Walter Wendler heralded as good news for a school out to rebound from last year's 4 percent dip.

"Hopefully, we've turned a corner," Wendler said Wednesday.

The Carbondale campus is one of 10 public universities in the state where officials are predicting fall enrollment figures to be up this year over last, thanks to a sagging economy that's making academia a more attractive alternative and to a bumper crop of 18-year-olds, a generation produced by baby boomers.

The near across-the-board rise is rare for Illinois, where college enrollment has remained nearly flat for the past decade, said Don Sevener, spokesman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The economy's downturn had something to do with the turnaround, he said.

"People who get laid off realize they either need to go back to school to finish a degree, or upgrade their skills," he said.

The board expects college enrollment to rise 10 to 12 percent over the next 10 years, as baby boomers' kids come of age, he said.

Big gains in Chicago

Some of the biggest gains are in Chicago and its booming suburbs. The University of Illinois at Chicago, Northern Illinois University and Northeastern Illinois University say enrollment is up by 7 percent, 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, according to the schools' preliminary estimates.

UIC administrators are rushing to add classes; at Northern, freshmen who couldn't find housing in dorms spent their first days of class in temporary accommodations.

Northern has seen its numbers increase each of the past six years, school spokeswoman Melanie Magara said. But in the past, those increases meant about 500 additional students. This year, the jump was more than twice that.

Officials at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign attribute that school's 3 percent increase to a surge in graduate students.

"We think the economy is probably the biggest reason," said Martha Moore, director of admissions. "Our freshman class is about the same."

ILLINOIS PUBLIC COLLEGE ENROLLMENT FIGURES

Preliminary estimates for fall enrollment at Illinois public universities. SCHOOL FALL 2002 FALL 2001 CHANGE

Chicago State 6,900 6,900

-

Governors State 5,649 5,586 +63

Illinois State 21,000 21,035 -35

Northeastern Illinois 11,463 10,999 +464

Northern Illinois 24,927 23,710 +1,217

University of Illinois-Chicago 24,605 22,911 +1,694

UI-Springfield 4,400 4,288 +112

UI-Urbana-Champaign 38,766 37,767 +999

SIU-Carbondale 21,873 21,598 +275

SIU-Edwardsville 12,708 12,442 +266

Western Illinois 13,461 13,206 +255

Eastern Illinois declined to give a specific estimate. A spokeswoman said enrollment is expected to top last year's.

SOURCE:AssociatedPress Southeast Missourian