Parkland College  

2400 West Bradley Ave. 

Champaign, IL 61821 
Phone: 217/351-2533

540 Clover Court

Gibson City, Illinois 60936

Phone: 217/784-8540

Email: tmbennett@mchsi.com

I am the Past President of the Illinois Community College Trustee Association (ICCTA).  Over the years, ICCTA has helped to make Illinois one of the strongest community college systems in the nation.  Illinois is made up of 39 community college districts and each district is governed by a seven person board of trustees.  With the exception of trustees in Chicago, Illinois trustees are elected to six year terms, they are not appointed.  However, within the city of Chicago, trustees are appointed by the mayor.  Of the 11 million people that live in Illinois today, over 1 million have attended a community college. 

How does the Illinois economy benefit from the presence of the 39 community college districts in the state? To answer that question, the Illinois Community College Trustee Association (ICCTA) contracted with CCbenefits, Inc. to apply a comprehensive economic model they have developed to capture and quantify the economic and social benefits of community colleges (CCs).  Highlights from this 2002 study included:

• The 39 community college districts in Illinois pay $1,008.1 million in direct faculty and staff wages and salaries, and explain an additional $8,916 million in wages and salaries off campus.

• Taxpayers see a real money “book” return of 13.8% on their annual investments in the community colleges and recover all investments in 9.1 years.

• Students enjoy an attractive 26.1% annual return on their investment of time and money—for every $1 the student invests in a college education, he or she will receive a cumulative $7.30 in higher future earnings over the next 30 years.

• The State of Illinois benefits from improved health and reduced welfare, unemployment, and crime, saving the public some $175.7 million per year.

For a copy of the Executive Summary of the Report, click here.
For a copy of the Fact Sheet for the Report, click here.
For a copy of the chart comparing Illinois community colleges' ROI vs. other types of investment, click here.
 

Sincerely,

Thomas M. Bennett

Past President ICCTA

Trustee, Parkland College