Report: Spring enrollment at Sauk Valley Community College increases

DIXON – Enrollment at Sauk Valley Community College increased by 5.5% from spring 2023 to spring 2024, according to the Illinois Community College Board’s Spring 2024 Enrollment Report released Wednesday.

In total, 1,528 students enrolled as spring students at Sauk Valley Community College for fiscal 2024. Of those, 1,081 students enrolled as transfers. The second most popular option was career and technical education (444), which is an instructional area that is primarily dependent on in-person instruction.

Dual-credit headcount enrollments increased 32.2% this spring compared with last spring and have increased 31.4% since 2021.

Dual-credit allows academically prepared high school students to simultaneously earn credits that count toward a high school diploma and a college degree.

This is the second year in a row that spring enrollment at Illinois community colleges increased systemwide. Overall, enrollment has increased by 5.1% over spring 2023.

“The efforts of the Illinois community college system to aggressively recruit and retain students and to expand access to new ways of learning continues to pay off,” ICCB Executive Director Brian Durham said. “The growth we are seeing consistently over these past two years, in the post-pandemic era, is a testament to the transformative power of the many accessible learning opportunities available across the system.”

Significant findings from the spring 2024 Illinois Community College Opening Enrollment Report for all 48 colleges include:

• 36 community colleges experienced an increase in headcount enrollment from spring 2023 to spring 2024, while 12 community colleges had a decrease.
• Five of six instructional areas exhibited increases in headcount enrollment from the previous year. Instructional areas primarily dependent on in-person instruction – including career and technical education (+5%) and vocational skill training (-7.3%) – had mixed results compared with the previous year.
• Transfer programs, the largest instructional area in the Illinois community college system, increased 2.7% from the previous year, while general studies certificate programs increased by 0.4% during the same time frame.
• Adult education increased headcount by 19% from spring 2023 to spring 2024.

To view the full report released by the Illinois Community College Board, visit iccb.org/wp-content/pdfs/reports/Spring_2024_Overview_Final.pdf.

The Illinois Community College Board is the state coordinating organization for the Illinois community college system. Illinois is home to 48 colleges in 39 community college districts.