Higher Education and Rural Development in Illinois�IBHE Board Meeting—March 13, 2024 (Revised September 10, 2024)

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Chris Merrett, PhD, Dean for Innovation and Economic Development

Director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs

Western Illinois University

Macomb, IL 61455

Context for Illinois Rural Higher Education

• Do policymakers understand Rural Higher Ed?
• Rural development challenges:
• Decades of rural depopulation
• Fastest shrinking age cohort: rural < 20
• Youth outmigration
• Aging population
• Digital divide is real
• Declining rural tax base
• Unequal health care access
• Unequal educational access
• Main street economy – Chubby’s?
• Loss of anchor institutions – Pharmacies?
• Workforce development challenges
• Negative Narrative – Psychology of Decline?
• Strategies?
• Macroscale forces drive depopulation
• How can higher education help?

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Census Year of

County Peak Population

WIU

3

< 20

65+

Fastest growing segment is 65 and over

Fastest shrinking segment is under 20

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Rural

• Fastest shrinking cohort is < 20 years (i.e. college-aged)
• Rural under 20 cohort is shrinking faster than urban cohort
• Compounds challenge of the “demographic cliff” for WIU

Demographics, Economic Development, and Higher Education

• Innovative academic programs and recruitment strategies are necessary but insufficient to increase enrollment and rural population
• Macroscale processes drive rural and downstate population decline
• Need macroscale policy to stabilize rural and downstate places
• Promote economic diversification and in-migration
• Higher education can be part of the solution
• Higher Education is economic development
• State should treat students in the same way DCEO treats businesses
• Funding equity rather than funding equality
• Illinois should be a net importer of students
• More thoughts: http://www.facibhe.org/documents/papers/IIRA_Intro_2023.pdf
• In Conclusion—Revisiting the Peak Population Map
• Implications for WIU plans and expectations?
• What is our narrative?

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