ECC to offer tuition-free English as a Second Language classes
Courses in English as a Second Language will be tuition free at Elgin Community College next year under a plan approved recently by the college's board of education.
The move, along with other changes to the program, is designed to make the courses more accessible to local residents, officials say.
"We know many of our students are not economically positioned to pay," Dean of Adult Education Peggy Heinrich said. "We also know that as more and more jobs require some level of postsecondary education, our students need to be able to complete advanced English language courses."
A majority of students in the program dropped out after finishing free beginner and intermediate courses, Heinrich said, rather than enroll in the advanced courses costing more than $500 apiece.
Although the college's ESL program serves about 3,000 students each year, only 28 students completed the highest level courses last year.
There are 10 levels in the English as a Second Language program.
Last year, the board voted to make both the beginner and intermediate classes free.
"Since that time, we've seen a steady rise in enrollment on the intermediate classes," Heinrich said.
According to college data, the change resulted in an increase of 273 students and 1,785 more earned credits in the intermediate levels.
The courses will be funded largely by the Illinois Community College Board's Adult Education and Family Literacy grant.
Additionally, Heinrich said, a $1,500 grant by the Wal-Mart foundation will provide students with free loaner English language textbooks and workbooks.
The Community College Board grant prohibits ECC's ability to mandate that ESL students buy textbooks, Heinrich said.
"Our students really can't afford books for the most part, though some buy them anyway," she said. "We're constantly trying to increase the amount of loaner sets."
Both changes come at a time when adult education funding from the state has flat-lined over the past several years.