DE Assistant Politics Editor

A record-setting boost in John A. Logan College’s spring semester enrollment could lead to an eventual increase in SIUC’s enrollment, an SIUC official says.

Ray Hancock, president of Logan, said the college is the state’s largest growing community college, which has led to its 27th record-setting enrollment out of the past 32 semesters. Spring enrollment for Logan is 5,057 students.

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SIUC experienced a decline in enrollment this semester because of graduating students and non-returning students, SIUC officials said.

Roland Keim, director of Admissions and Records, said SIUC is not in competition with Logan for students whose main goal is to receive a bachelor’s degree. He said this is because a large number of those students will eventually transfer to SIUC.

Chances are we’ll get a high proportion of those students when they transfer, Keim said. We look at them as being the institution that gives us a large number of transfers. In many ways, their enrollment is good for us. Keeping them in this area assists this University.

However, Keim said there is a little competition between the schools for high school graduates.

Hancock said about 90 percent of Logan students who plan to transfer to a university will transfer to SIUC.

We are SIUC’s largest transfer institution, Hancock said. We have a very good relationship with SIU.

Hancock attributes the college’s rising enrollment to several factors.

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We have a reputation for quality programs and instruction, Hancock said. We have low cost tuition. We are doing a number of creative programs in the regular programs and in workforce training. We have a lot of people coming back for an education because they are unemployed in the Southern Illinois economy. We’ve studied it as close as we can, and this is what we’ve found.

Terry Crane, Logan director of Admissions and Records, said he thought Logan was experiencing increases in enrollment because the college meets the needs of the community.

I think Logan has always been a place where the local community can get a good quality and economic start on education, Crane said. I think Logan is always adding new courses to meet the needs of the local community.