https://digitallis.isg.siue.edu/files/original/3b4a259b816cd517ad60ea82d06bdd0a.pdf 6881188ecda394bbe80f03034766467d PDF Text Text . () REPORT to the ILLINOIS STATE COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION by the Southwestern Illinois Council for Higher Education Suite 221 - Broadview Hotel East St. Louis, Illinois July 10, 1958 (Revised) �!) Citizens' Action In October, 1955, a group of civic-minded men and women in Madison County took the first step in what was to become a grass -roots movement for higher edu­ cation inv'olving the active cooperation of citizens in every walk of life in a two­ county area of more than a half million persons. The area comprised heavily-industralized Madison and St. Clair Counties, and the action taken by the citizens - members of the Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce - was to extend invitations to the state's two universities to help explore some means by which the young people of the area might secure a higher education close to home. Southern Illinois University officials accepted the invitation to meet with the Edwardsville citizens, but made no commitments relative to the establishment of university facilities in the area, on the grounds that they wished to interest other educational institutions - both private and public - in cooper a.five •'planning for such a program before assuming a major responsibility. Two meetings sponsored jointly by SIU and the University of Illinois - were held in February and October of 1956 to explore the possibilities. Almost simultaneously, the Edwardsville group mushroomed into an area­ wide citizens' organization - The Southwestern Illinois Council for Higher Education - with representatives from virtually every civic organization, governing body, public and private school, business and industry in the region, the state I s most populous after Chicago. The Council, with Dr. Robert Lynn of Alton as chairman, set up committees to call on the Governor, the Illinois State Commission for Higher Education, and the legislators of the area. Governor Stratton conferred with the citizens' committee three times, the Commission on Higher Education examined an educational survey underwri,tten by them, legislators sat in on all meetings of the group, and Southern Illinois University's Board of Trustees agreed to give them a hearing. When the extent of the citizens' interest in the establishment of university facilities was further evidenced by East St. Louis's offer of free use of its old high school building and Alton's offer to lease the facilities of the former Shurt­ leff College, U · e.J:.§iJ <UJ....tbo,rjtie4 with state approval, decided to take action to provide higher education facilities in East St. Louis and Alton for the fall term. Educational Survey of the Area A comprehensive survey of the extent and nature of the need for higher edu­ cation facilities in the two counties was undertaken in December, 1956, by Alonzo F. Myers, chairman of New York University's department of highe;-;ducation. He spent three months in the area compiling data for the survey, underwritten by the two-county citizens I group. rv-.. : �-2- He found that population-wise St. Clair County - embracing East St. Louis had fewer than half as many college graduates as the state or nation as a whole (2. 4 per cent as compared with 5. 9 per cent for the state and 6 per cent for the entire nation). Exactly twice as many persons in adjoining Madison County were college graduates, but even this was considerably below the national average. One reason for the poor showing was the relative absence of opportunity to attend college locally. This situation was to become even more acute in the following months when 130-year old Shurtleff College, the only four-year college in Madison County, closed its doors. According to Myers' survey roughly 40 per cent of the high school seniors in the area hoped to attend college, and more than two-fifths of these said they would have to go away to college because there was no college 'riear'home that met their needs. Finding the funds to enable them to go away to college, however, was admittedly impossible for half of them. Myers estimated that a chance to attend college at a low tuition charge while living at home - especially if they could work part time -- would cause an appreciable number of students to enroll for college. With some students coming from adjacent counties, he predicted that if college facilities were established in Alton and East St. Louis, each Center could open with 400 fresh­ men. He duly recom.mended their establishment. Enrollment Exceeds Estimate Residence Centers of Southern Illinois University opened in Alton and East St. Louis in September, 1957, with 1, 800 students enrolled in degree programs. More than 700 were receiving state or federal. help with their education, and well ?' ? over half of these received financial assistance available to them only at an Illinois state university; the rest were veterans. Since a good ten per cent of the remainder of the student body was privately employed, roughly half of the students were receiving, in one form or another, at least the equivalent of their tuition. The cost of attending college was further reduced for them by virtue of the fact that almost without exception, their homes were within commuting distance of their classes. Ninety-four per cent of them lived within 35 miles of the Residence Center they were attending. Two hundred of the students working toward degrees were enrolled in the graduate program. In addition to the students working toward degrees, there were 850 enrolled in technical and adult education and 15 0 in conference or short-term courses. ioo Applications for admission indicate that 3, students will be enrolled in the degree programs of the Residence Centers as of September, 1958. A sub­ stantial increase in the number of persons registering for the industrial pro­ gram is expected to bring to 4, 500 the enrollment in the total program of the \ 'l;r;,: YJ �,,., , -3- Southwestern Illinois Residence Office this coming fall. Myers I Report pre­ dicts a yearly increase in enrollment, culminating in a full-time day student body of 8, 000 for the area by 1967 - provided that adequate support for the program is available. Future Program for Council Current activities of the Southwestern lllino1s Council for Higher Educa­ tion include: 1. Active support for the state-wide bond issue. 2. Formulation of plans for the securing of financial support.. for the purchase of a permanent site in a central location, to be presented to Southern Hlinois University. 3. Efforts to secure aid for students_ going to college. 4. Plans for a program of legislative action in behalf of the Residence Centers. 5. Perpetuation of committees to conduct continuing studies of the needs of higher education as it relates to area-wide pro­ gress. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Report to the Illinois State Commission for Higher Education Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 10, 1958