For the last couple of years, the incoming class of students has grown larger and larger. Between more traditional first-year students and transfer students, North Central’s enrollment has remained on the up and up… until now.
According to the dean of admission Martha Stolze, as of February, enrollment is down for the 2018-19 academic year. “Our applications are down this year overall by about 600 to 700 students,” Stolze said. “We have about 300 to 400 fewer accepted students for this upcoming fall as opposed to last fall.”
While most people automatically jump to the rising cost of attendance at the College, there are actually other, state-wide factors at play, namely, out-migration.
Stolze said that the “national trends in terms of demographics” are having an effect on applications and enrollment for the coming year. “There’s just fewer students in that age range graduating from high school right now coupled with the fact that Illinois, because of its budget issues for a number of years, I think, there has been a steady decline in the number of students wanting to stay in state,” she said.
CMAP, the regional planning organization for DuPage, Cook, Kendall, McHenry, Will, Kane and Lake Counties, said that “multiple demographic components are contributing to population decline in the Chicago region. Declining births rates, delayed marriages, and an aging population are slowing natural population growth.” This especially affecting the Chicago region where the last census proved a decline in the regional population.
“We really haven’t done anything differently, so it’s not that we have cut back resources or cut back recruiting… if anything we have done a little bit more this year with some of our recruiting efforts,” said Stolze.
Another reason for a decline in enrollment is a shift in the traditional first-year population. More students now are choosing to start with community college — a common option for undecided students or those looking to get gen ed requirements out of the way — to save money. Though the recession was 10 years ago, we’re still seeing its effects. “ Prior to previous recessions, the gap between these two rates has narrowed, thus every time the two get closer some investors prepare for the worst. But, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, we are not there yet,” said CNBC. And the Bank of America doesn’t see a turnaround until at least 2021.
On the flipside, transfer admissions remain a strong point for the College. Nicolas DeFalco, director of transfer admissions, said that the numbers don’t seem to be lower than normal for the upcoming school year.
“A third of the totality of the incoming class… is comprised of transfer students,” said DeFalco, and “close to half of every graduating class is made up of transfer students.” DeFalco continued on to say that about two-thirds of the incoming transfer class is usually made up of those coming from community colleges while the remaining third transfer from four- year institutions.
“That’s pretty steady, and we hope it will grow year after year with the new strategic plan we have,” he said.
Now that the national College Decision Day (May 1) has come and gone, North Central can begin to get a better look at their new student population for the upcoming academic year. But there is sure to be students who decide between now and the first day of fall term that they want to be central.
