Southwestern Illinois College’s Precision Machining Technology program competed in and won a Department of Defense Advanced Manufacturing contest held in Danville, VA last week. This team also won the national SKILLS USA competition this year.
Medical Assistant program growing at JWCC
A year after its inception, John Wood Community College’s medical assistant program has more than doubled in size, according to school officials.
They said the program has 13 students enrolled after 6 graduated last year. Officials said medical assistants can take on many roles at a doctors office from taking payments to taking a patients vitals.
“It takes less training and they can be overseen by a RN or LPN working cooperatively,” said Rose Ghattas, Director of CMA Program. “So that different skill sets can be used throughout the office.”
Economy Is Key Driver As Community College Enrollment Declines Again
Enrollment declined at Illinois community colleges again this fall, driven in part by a strong economy and low unemployment.
In all, 271,426 students were enrolled at Illinois’ 48 community colleges this fall. That’s down 4.2% from fall 2018, and it’s down 14.1% from this time five years ago, the Illinois Community College Board reported this week.
It’s concerning, said Illinois Community College Board Executive Director Brian Durham—but not necessarily surprising. Illinois’ jobless rate fell to a record low 3.9% in September. That labor market and the economy overall have an inverse relationship with community college enrollment, especially among adult students and those in career-technical education programs, Durham said.