Bradley University's total enrollment has dipped below 5,000 students for the 2024-25 academic year.
Total enrollment is about 4,800 students, a university spokesperson told WCBU on Wednesday. That's down from 5,217 total students in 2023-24. It's the lowest overall enrollment Bradley has posted since at least 1990.
A university spokesperson said first-year enrollment was relatively stable, down 2.5%. That number includes traditional first-year undergrad students.
The spokesperson said the university is operating under a deficit as expected this year, but no program cuts are planned.
Bradley University's tumult over the past year is well-known. A $13 million deficit led to deep cuts to academic offerings. The university is eliminating 61 teaching positions and phasing out 15 programs. Five other programs are no longer being offered as majors.
Those cuts shook the Hilltop and led to rare public dissent at the private four-year university. Members of the faculty cast votes of no confidence in Bradley University President Stephen Standifird and Provost Walter Zakahi last November. Students and faculty also walked out of classes in protest of the cuts.
Standifird announced his resignation at the end of May, and Zakahi retired. Several members of the executive cabinet also have turned over following Standifird's departure. The university is currently led by interim president Jonathan Michael, the former RLI CEO and chairman of Bradley's board of trustees.
Michael told WCBU earlier this month that a permanent president should be in place by the 2025-26 school year.
Other area institutions see enrollment gains, but also challenges
Other Central Illinois higher learning institutions are structured and funded differently and do not necessarily serve the same types of students that Bradley does, but they are seeing significant enrollment gains.
Illinois Central College had 8,008 students enrolled this fall, an increase of 5.1%. Eureka College announced an all-time record first-year class of 242 this fall, and a steady total enrollment of 558. Illinois State University also has a record first-year class of 4,285 students, and overall enrollment increased 2.7% to 21,546.
But ISU is still imposing wage freezes and a 2% cut across all divisions this year in an effort to get ahead of an expected three-year structural deficit of $32 million.
Western Illinois University's total fall enrollment was 6,332, higher than expected but still down from last year. WIU cut nearly 90 faculty and staff positions over the summer, and reduced all department budgets by 25%.
Higher education at large is grappling with an enrollment cliff that's a combination of multiple factors, including the lower birth rates of the Great Recession coming home to roost, and decreasing interest in pursuing a traditional two- or four-year degree.
