Enrollment declined at Illinois community colleges again this fall, driven in part by a strong economy and low unemployment.

More than four billion private records were exposed by data breaches in the first half of 2019. Illinois residents have seen their fair share of information compromises. In July, the state received a share of the Equifax settlement.

College has traditionally been the place young adults get the education they need to pursue their life’s calling. At one of Chicago’s City Colleges, there’s a program for student’s whose life calling deals with death.

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.