The University of Illinois Police Training Institute graduated what some thought would be its final class Thursday in Urbana. But the institute’s director opened the ceremony by announcing that the PTI would continue to hold classes in 2018.
Richland Community College in Decatur is laying off 18 more staff members due to declining enrollment and a lack of state funding.
The state’s ongoing budget impasse has hit community colleges particularly hard, with funds to these schools and the students who attend them drastically reduced. The Illinois Community College Board is distributing $3 million in emergency aid, divided among seven campuses. Lakeland Community College in Mattoon is on the list.
The for-profit college ITT Technical Institute said in a federal filing that it will cease operations on Friday. Carmel, Indiana-based ITT Educational Services Inc. said in a Wednesday filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission that it would stop services a little more than a week after it announced it would close all of its campuses. At the same time, Parkland College and other community colleges are stepping in to help displaced students.
A new state law will enable people with certain felony convictions to get a second chance to pursue careers in health care. Governor Bruce Rauner signed the legislation Thursday at Richland Community College in Decatur. That’s where local resident Lisa Creason earned a nursing degree in 2014, only to learn she didn’t qualify for an RN license because of a conviction nearly 20 years ago.
