The population growth in Lake County is causing a ”space crunch” at the College of Lake County, a community college that serves an estimated 15,000 students, a college official said Thursday.
”While we knew the county was growing, I don`t think any of us quite realized the magnitude of the growth,” said Julie Weissman, director of institutional research and planning at the Grayslake-based institution.
”The biggest effect is we have a space crunch. We don`t have room on our main campus and our Waukegan campus for all the students who would like to take advantage of what we have to offer.”
Weissman and a committee of school officials recently completed a report on the Lake County population growth in a study entitled, ”Environmental Scan of Lake County: Implications for 1992-94, Goals and Objectives.”
The study found that Lake County`s population increased by 50,305, or 11 percent, from 1980 to 1988. From 1988 to 1990, the county added nearly 26,000 people, according to the latest census figures, for a 10-year rise of 17 percent.
With the area`s population growth came new students, especially women, who have represented the majority of enrollments at CLC since 1979, Weissman said.
”We have women who are returning to work, or going to work for the first time, and they need training and education,” she said. ”We`ve found that women tend to take more advantage of the kind of scheduling we have because it fits into their needs. Services can`t shut off at 5 o`clock in the afternoon.”
In addition, the average age of the CLC student has increased to 30.1, reflecting not only a national trend of having more people over the age of 25 returning to college but also that the average age of the Lake County resident has increased, the study said.
”If you walk around the campus in the morning and evening, there are no empty classrooms and most rooms are filled to capacity,” Weissman said.
In order to cope with its growth, CLC is hoping to receive a $2 million planning grant from the state.
The grant would be used to plan the construction of an estimated $10 million, 68,000-square-foot building the college hopes to erect on its Grayslake campus, Weissman said.
