Screenshot / Illinois State University
Illinois State University administrators are hoping to open a new College of Engineering.
On Friday, ISU President Larry Dietz and Provost Aondover Tarhule presented the first half of a proposal to launch new engineering programs to the board of trustees.
Dietz said it’s a chance to attract more students during the so-called enrollment crisis as high school graduating class sizes shrink, meaning fewer prospective college attendees. Currently, he said those interested in engineering programs tend to look to out-of-state colleges.
“We're looking for new opportunities for new markets for students, and the engineering program clearly gives us access to new students,” Dietz said. “The other part is that there's a huge demand (and) Illinois universities aren’t meeting it. There's a demand from the companies that hire engineering graduates that much exceeds the supply of the existing engineering programs.”