High unemployment and high college enrollment appear to continue to go hand-in-hand. The University of Illinois at Springfield has once again achieved record enrollment.
Enrollment for the Spring semester is recorded at 4,920 students. Last (Fall) semester's enrollment records was at 5,174, which was the highest ever in the Springfield campus' 40-year history. The Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs says the biggest increase is in non-traditional students who want to compete for better jobs.
"We see increased numbers of online students in particular. And those are individuals who are busy with family or work or other responsibilities," said Tim Barnett. "And they're trying to find a way to get an education. Many of them don't even live in the Springfield area."
UIS offers 16 online degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. More than one-fourth of the students are online degree program students, and more than half of all students at UIS are taking at least one online class.
The increase was featured by WICS-TV 20 in a February 7, 2011, report.
Download a PDF of the web article
