KC HOSTS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT LUNCH, PRESENTS ON 2024-25 ACADEMIC YEAR
Kaskaskia College, in partnership with the Centralia Chamber of Commerce, hosted its Community Engagement Lunch Wednesday in the Lifelong Learning Center, where KC officials presented on statistics from the previous academic year.
KC President George Evans reported an uptick in full-time, saying the college had roughly 4,000 full-time students in the last year, up 5.2% from the year previous. Evans also reported that the 2024-25 academic year was the first time KC had seen that many full-time students since approximately 2010.
“This past spring we had 4,000 full-time students and other 3,000 part-time. Of those 4,000 full-time students, about fifty percent of those come into Kaskaskia College to earn their associate's degree to transfer on to a four-year university,” Evans explained. “They are doing so for a little less than $13,500, and hat’s if they have no financial aid. That’s if they have no scholarships.”
“For now, a majority of our students are between the ages of 18 and 21,” Evans said. “We are capturing that market share of the high school graduate. About 30-to-33 percent of high school students that are graduating high school in our district that are college-bound are coming here. We are going to continue to maintain our focus on that market share. That’s our opportunity to give back to you and to them.”
The college president also discussed Kaskaskia College’s significant impact on the greater community, reporting over $100 million given back to the community in the last year by way of its students, staff and visitors.
“Last year alone, $132 million. That’s the total spending impact at KC in our district. When I say spending impact, that’s us trying to spend money with our vendors, that’s our students stopping at gas stations, that’s our visitors staying at hotels, that’s our employees who reside in the district paying taxes, that’s our individuals that reside in the district spending money at the local grocery store.”
“We really truly are…an economic engine. We really are, and we pride ourselves on that. We want to make sure that we maintain that fiscal responsibility to make sure that this is a great place to live, this is a great place to send your student or your potential child to come and earn that degree before you transfer on.”
Julie Obermark, VP of Instructional Services, spoke as well, further discussing the school’s enrollment numbers and providing more information on the college’s KC Now program.
The KC Now program allows high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take college courses, and allows them to take the class on-campus if their respective high school does not have a instructor capable of teaching the class.
“There is a strong belief that no student should be held back from educational opportunities because of the high school district they live in, or because of the geographical region. We want to make this higher education available to everyone. So, we implemented a program called KC Now in the fall of 2019,” explained Obermark. “We have been up and running about five years now, and each year that program has grown.”
Michael Christianson, Executive Director of the Kaskaskia College Foundation, closed the ceremony by discussing the Foundation’s work and most recent efforts.
“We were fortunate enough to raise over $487,000 to support Kaskaskia College, and by extension our students,” said Christianson. “Our mission at the KC Foundation is to support, sustain, and elevate the success of Kaskaskia College students.”
Other reported statistics from the 2024-25 academic year were as follows:
9910 students served.
848 students graduated with a degree or certificate.
440 degrees awarded
738 certificates awarded.
110 Gen Ed credentials awarded.
20,309 total credit hours awarded between dual credit, KC Now and KC Jumpstart.
200-plus articulation agreements.
A total of $1,969,829 in scholarships awarded.
$9,394,760 in total received FY25 grant funds.
