April Is Community College Month

City Colleges is celebrating Community College Month throughout April as we recognize the vital role that community colleges play in shaping students’ futures, strengthening communities, and expanding access to education.

Governor JB Pritzker has declared April 2025 as Illinois Community College Month “in honor of the Illinois Community College System and the significant contribution these institutions are making to every student, every community, and our state.” The full text of the proclamation is reprinted below.

Since 1911, City Colleges of Chicago has been connecting students from across Chicago’s neighborhoods to economic opportunity. By offering a quality education at an unprecedented value, City Colleges provides our students and alumni with a pathway to upward mobility. In fact, our vision is to be recognized as the city’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity—empowering all Chicagoans to take part in building a stronger and more just city.

There are many opportunities to learn more about all that City Colleges has to offer. Learn more at www.ccc.edu/apply or visit www.ccc.edu/events to see upcoming Open House opportunities.

Join us in celebrating Community College Month by sharing your own community college story with the hashtags #4everystudent4everycommunity, #ilcommunitycollegeproud, and #CCMonth throughout the month of April.

Community College Month Proclamation 2025

WHEREAS, America’s first public community college was established in Joliet, Illinois, in 1901; and,

WHEREAS, Illinois community colleges are powerhouses of opportunity at the grassroots with 45 community colleges and 39 college districts throughout the state defining success student by student and community by community; and,

WHEREAS, according to the Illinois Community College Board, Illinois community colleges educate 75 percent of the undergraduate students enrolled in Illinois public higher education; and

WHEREAS, Illinois community colleges are outcome-driven, ranking number one in the nation for bachelor’s degree completion rates among the 54 percent of community college students who transfer; and

WHEREAS, in fiscal year 2024, Illinois community colleges partnered with local school districts and offered 15,942 dual credit courses to 91,017 high school students; and,

WHEREAS, earning an Associate of Applied Science or long-term certificate from an Illinois community college adds nearly $600,000 in lifetime earnings; and

WHEREAS, Illinois community colleges share a common mission to prepare people for the workforce, to transfer students to other colleges and universities, and to continually respond to the communities they serve through adult literacy continuing education services;

THEREFORE, I, JB Pritzker, Governor of the State of Illinois, do hereby proclaim April 2025 to be Illinois Community College Month in honor of the Illinois Community College System and the significant contribution these institutions are making to the strength, vitality, and prosperity for our state.