Some Illinois community colleges are losing students. Others are bucking the trend

Fall 2026 enrollment figures from area community colleges showed some schools growing, while others were dealing with a decline in their student bodies.Statewide, the Illinois Community College Board reported total headcount was down 0.7% from last year.However, Joliet Junior College, Kankakee Community College, McHenry County College, College of DuPage and Sauk Valley Community College were among those that bucked that trend.Many community college officials agree that staying on top of labor market needs and maintaining affordability helps draw students of all levels to campus or to online courses.“As we’ve looked across the state of Illinois at higher ed enrollment trends, not only for community colleges, but for universities especially, we find that our trends are very different, and ours are increasing, and pretty dramatically,” said Kankakee Community College President Michael Boyd. “We attribute that, first of all, to alignment of our programs. Our program portfolio is so well-al