Education Issues

People often get confused about just what a community college is. Some people think of community colleges as two-year colleges. Others define community colleges as vocational or technical schools. But community colleges are much more than that.

ICC exists because our community invited it to exist. In 1966, voters in our district decided central Illinois should have a community college. In 1967, ICC opened its doors to students. Since then, ICC has been providing affordable education for the people of central Illinois.

ICC is one of nearly 50 community colleges in the state. Illinois’ community college system is the third largest in the nation. Each one of them serves its community in unique ways. Here are some of the ways in which we work to meet the needs of our Peoria community:

• At Illinois Central College, we provide nearly 60 different degrees and certificates in roughly 70 programs. We offer about 2,100 classes each semester. We serve around 12,000 students taking credit courses and another 11,000 students taking professional development or community education courses.
  
  
• Like many community colleges, ICC remains an important option for local students. Forty-four percent of all area high school students who decide to go to college choose ICC within one semester of high school graduation. At a current cost of $52 per credit hour, ICC remains an affordable choice for students. An ICC education costs roughly $1,600 per year, compared to $5,900 at a four-year public Illinois college; $9,000 at a two-year private college; or $14,000 at a four-year private college. 
  
  
• ICC provides more than 50 vocational programs supporting the agricultural, manufacturing, construction, health care, and technology fields and roughly 500 classes per year in workforce development through its Professional Development Institute. ICC provides significant help to small businesses through its Procurement Technical Assistance Center and Self-Employment Training programs.
  
  
• Especially in times of economic downturn, ICC has provided affordable job training, career counseling, and job searches for local citizens. Last year 300 students enrolled in our “Dynamics of Vocational Choice” class, which helps individuals explore career choices. Another 377 individuals received career counseling, and 2,500 people received free help in their job search and with resume and interview skills through our career center.
  
  
• ICC, like other community colleges, reaches out to minority citizens in downstate Illinois. For example, minority enrollment at ICC, in terms of number of students, grew 3.2 percent between the fall 2001 and 2002 semesters. The number of Hispanic and Asian students for the same time period grew 16 percent and 12.5 percent respectively. And the number of disabled students attending ICC for fiscal year 2002 is at an all time high of 301, a 58 percent increase. Within our own workforce, we continue to recruit minority faculty and staff. Thirteen percent of our current full-time employees are minorities, and that number will continue to grow. Minorities represent nearly one-quarter of our administrative staff. Illinois Central College employs 2,100 downstate citizens. Among these full- and part-time employees are 120 members of the Carpenters and Joiners Union, Local 2189.
  
  
• In addition to these endeavors, Illinois Central College is a member of the Peoria NEXT bio-collaborative effort that seeks to bring venture capital to downstate Illinois. The college will have an important role in training the technicians and health care workers needed to support this effort. ICC already enjoys partnerships with the USDA research lab in Peoria, the local hospitals, and Caterpillar Inc.

What we do may occur in the classrooms, but the impact of community colleges reaches beyond our classrooms and campus to our community, the workplace, our neighborhoods, and our state. IBI