Heartland Community College sees increase in new students with largest incoming class in four years

 

[September 05, 2019]    Heartland Community College has seen an increase in new undergrad students for the 2019-2020 school year.

Enrollment numbers at Census Day (the 10th day of classes) show an increase of 7 percent in the number of undergraduate students new to Heartland and an increase of 3.7 percent in number of credit hours they are taking.

“It’s encouraging to see more new faces beginning their college career at Heartland,” said President Keith Cornille. “As we continue our strategic enrollment management efforts we hope to see enrollment growth continue as the College continues its premier transfer preparation and also adds new Work Ready certification programs targeted at those in the community seeking to change or advance their career opportunities.”

The 1,554 new Heartland students make up the school’s largest freshman class in four years.

“The biggest jump of in new student numbers come from freshmen who took dual credit College NOW classes,” said Sarah Diel-Hunt, Vice President, Enrollment and Student Service. “We are seeing more students get their start on college courses in high school and then bring those credits to Heartland.  Some of these students earn enough dual credit to complete their associate’s degree just one year after high school.”

New undergraduate students	2018	2019	%
Headcount	1453	1554	+ 6.95
Credit Hours	15,969	16,568	+ 3.7

The College also saw an increase of students who re-enrolled in Heartland after an absence of three or more semesters away.

Although the incoming class of students was larger, numbers were down among continuing students with a slight overall decrease in total number of students (-1.3 percent).

“Community colleges across the nation and in Illinois continue to see a trend of declining enrollments; however, what is encouraging about our numbers at Heartland this Fall is our growth in new students. This bodes well for the future,” said Diel-Hunt.
 

	2018	2019	%
Total Enrollment (undergraduate students)	4716	4655	-1.29
Total Enrollment including undergraduate students, Adult Education & Continuing Education	4848	4772	-1.57

The 10-day census numbers reflect student enrollment after the add/drop period for credit classes has ended. A number of Adult Education and Continuing Education classes begin at a different point of the academic year.

[Steve Fast
Director, Public Information
Heartland Community College]