If one were to create a list of the greatest man-made assets in Central Illinois, one entity that would surely rank high is Illinois Central College.
Countless dreams of success have found fuel in the hallways of this institution of higher learning.
It did not matter if those dreams were within a poor kid from the South Side, a Caterpillar employee from Sunnyland on strike, or a privileged kid from Dunlap who wanted to raise his grade-point average before transferring to the University of Illinois. Regardless of the student’s background, ICC was there to serve.
In 1966, voters locally passed a referendum to create a junior college.
In 1967, the doors opened.
Two thousand students took advantage of what ICC had to offer that first year.
ICC, in those days, looked very different than it does today. But, the small college has a mission that remains constant over the past four decades — to provide a quality education at a modest cost.
Today, ICC is a behemoth, compared to 40 years ago. It is spread over four campuses and serves 20,000 people a semester.
While the mission is the same, the need for ICC has grown tremendously. When ICC opened, a person could still make a decent wage without a high school diploma. It is a radically different world today. Today, a college education is not the beginning and end of one’s ticket to success. A college education today is only the beginning.
We live in a world where lifelong learning is required.
Central Illinois needs ICC to fulfill that need.
ICC has not grown so large that it is difficult for the college to be flexible enough to meet this market’s changing educational needs.
That is a very important attribute.
It is not “the sky-is-falling” thinking to worry about what direction things are headed for ICC, given the economic climate ICC President Dr. John Erwin laid out last week.
Erwin says ICC is experiencing a constant erosion of state funding.
The result is ever-growing tuition.
Tuition now stands at $82 per credit hour, bringing the college closer to the community college state average of $85 per credit hour.
The state keeps trimming community college funds while the governor adds programs we cannot afford, like free mammograms for every woman and insurance for all kids.
These are both wonderful things. But, the real answer to providing these services, without the state picking up the tab, is more educated people taking jobs that pay a living wage.
ICC, as an educational institution, provides that opportunity, yet it appears the governor and some legislators cannot understand that equation.
It would be a great loss to Central Illinois if countless future dreams of success are thwarted because the cost of an ICC education grows out of reach.
We are all for the idea of self-reliance. But, the state has a vested interest in education. It is way past time state government lived up to that responsibility.
