Enrollment at Heartland Community College in Normal is down slightly both in the number of students and in credit hours taken for the fall semester.
The college said the 2% decline in headcount and 1.4% reduction in credit hours comes disproportionately from the College NOW dual credit program.
Heartland said that program has seen exponential growth over the last decade, but is now likely stabilizing. This year’s drop line comes from high school staffing declines in qualified instructors and some changes the college made to programs that reduced dual credit course offerings.
There was a 7% increase in students enrolled in applied and work-ready programs.
And growth continued in the number of minority students and other students from underrepresented categories. There was a 14% increase in the number of African American students and a significant jump in the number of international students; 36% of the student body is diverse, the college said.
There was a slight increase in students over the age of 25. And the 70 international students enrolled at Heartland is a record high.
