SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The community colleges of Illinois want people to know they present a viable option for students and a skilled labor pipeline for employers.
Brian Durham, executive director of the Illinois Community College Board, explained to WBBM Newsradio how the numbers pencil out quite well.
“Three years after completion,” Durham said, “electrical and power transmission installers earn nearly $70,000. Fire protection workers earn over $54,000, and HVAC and refrigeration maintenance workers can earn almost $49,000. Community college graduates are in demand by business and industry across the state.”
Durham spoke Wednesday at a news conference which included one success story, LaCrea Lott, a medical assistant who graduated from Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.
“A lot of students are eager and want to come to community college,” Lott said. “There’s different careers that the (Workforce Equity Initiative) program offers as far as medical assistant, CNA, pharmacy technician, (and) CDL.”
This, with the release of a study, Illinois Community Colleges’ Economic Impacts, claiming a $3.5 billion economic impact, and 43,000 jobs, from the state’s 48 community colleges.
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