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Coordinates: 41°50′30″N, 88°4′18″W

College of DuPage
Established	1967
Type	Community College
President	Dr. Sunil Chand
Faculty	305 full time [Institutional Portrait, 2006-2007]
Students	28,767 total headcount Fall 2006 [10th Day Enrollment Report], down from 34,073 in Fall 1999
Location	Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
Campus	Suburban, 273 acres
Colors	Brown, Yuck.
Nickname	Shitheads, Zero Tolerance Attitude heads.
Website	www.cod.edu

The College of DuPage, or COD, is the Midwest's largest single-campus two-year community college, with its main campus located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Naperville, West Chicago, and Westmont. The college serves students residing in Illinois' Community College District 502, which is most of DuPage County and parts of Cook County and Will County.

The college was established in 1967 in Glen Ellyn, with temporary facilities at 22nd Street (now Fawell Boulevard) and Lambert Road. That very same year the award-winning student newspaper, The Courier published its first issue and has been printing ever since. Due to the college's early students having to run from building to building for classes, the Chaparral was adopted as the college's mascot. The main campus is also home to WDCB 90.9 FM, a public radio station founded in 1977, as well as the award-winning literary magazine Prairie Light Review, founded in 1982.

Expanding

COD has expanded much over the years. Initially there were temporary buildings on the West side of the campus, and they are still up today. The first permanent buildings were constructed on this site in the 1970s. The first such building was the IC building. Other to follow were the SCC, Art Center, and the Gym. Currently the facility master plan calls for expanding the campus. Under it the ECEC building was built, and the Science and Tec buildings are being constructed.

Semester Conversion, Plunging Enrollment

For most of the college's history, it offered classes in an 11-week-long quarter format, with four quarters (Winter (January-March), Spring (April-June), Summer (June-August) and Fall (September-December)) in a single calendar year. In May 2002, the Board of Trustees voted to convert to semesters. The conversion was effective August 2005, and was made in spite of student and faculty pleas, and a petition, to remain on quarters. As Burt Constable reported in the Daily Herald [June 6, 2002]:

Then-President Michael Murphy "says the opposition to semesters was far from universal and that even if it were, 'the board has to be bound by factors other than popular opinion.' Furthermore, the issue of whether the school runs on quarters or on semesters is insignificant, Murphy says. Actually, his exact words are: 'It's tantamount to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.'"

An interesting metaphor, because enrollments have sunk like the Titanic since conversion. As the Daily Herald reported [February 245, 2007], "The College of DuPage is the first Illinois community college to break the $100-per-credit-hour barrier for tuition and fees, though other schools likely will follow suit soon. But part of the reason for the planned increase - from $96 to $103 per credit hour - is continuing declines in enrollment. Ever since the Glen Ellyn college switched from four quarters to three semesters, enrollment has dropped. And as tuition's the biggest chunk of its revenue, the impact is clear."

Early enrollment figures for fall 2007 were down dramatically from the previous year. As the Daily Herald reported on June 9, 2007, "Early fall enrollment last year at this time had a total headcount of 5,386 students. This year, early fall enrollment is at 4,579 students, a 15 percent drop."

C.O.D.'s Economic Impact

College of DuPage is a major economic force in the region, generating a total impact of $44,251,341 in 2005, including millions of dollars in local sales, wages and operating expenditures. C.O.D.'s economic vitality is the subject of a new study commissioned by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA).Prepared by the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University in partnership with the ICCB and the ICCTA, the report was authorized to better understand the return from investing in C.O.D.

The study reported that the college in fiscal year 2005 directly employed 897 full-time and 1,695 part-time staff, with a total payroll of $86,415,660. In addition to wages and salaries, the college reported $29,041,778 in operating expenditures in fiscal year 2005.These are the outside services and supplies required in the daily operations of the college. As these expenditures churn through the local economy, they generate another $15 million in indirect and induced expenditures and hundreds of additional jobs.

As a result, these monies produced an estimated $15,209,563 in output, for a total economic impact of $44,251,341. A similar study looked at the economic impact of the 48 community colleges in Illinois.

In short, community colleges play significant economic roles in both their regions and for the state as a whole. The C.O.D. study reveals a variety of significant findings: " The college adds skills to the workforce and boosts the competitiveness of area business. "

C.O.D. graduates generate millions of dollars annually in local, state and federal tax revenues. " A C.O.D. education increases earnings for workers. " C.O.D. generates millions of dollars in local sales and wages.

The report noted that as part of its day-to-day operations, the college purchases goods and services, many of them from local businesses. It also pays its employees, who in turn spend their wages and salaries in the local economy.

Further, the college invests in site improvements, remodeling and new construction that generate additional expenditures and jobs.

"The college has served a remarkable number of workers in the district," said Harlan Schweer, C.O.D. director, Research and Planning. According to the report, of all workers in College of DuPage District 502, 33.1 percent had attended C.O.D. during the previous 10 years.

The report also noted that a 25-year-old C.O.D. program graduate can expect a total lifetime earnings premium of $594,054. This is 49.5 percent more than the projected total lifetime earnings of $1.2 million if they had not completed a program.

"It pays for students to complete their educational programs at the college," Schweer said. But C.O.D.'s impact stretches beyond district boundaries. For example, C.O.D. students who attended school in 1995 paid an estimated $322,691,554 in state taxes and $1,237,882,670 in federal taxes between 1996 and 2005.

As for the collective impact of Illinois' 48 community colleges, the report revealed the following: " In fiscal year 2005, theses colleges directly employed 13,840 full-time and 19,397 part-time staff, with a total payroll of $1.1 billion in salaries and benefits. "

An estimated additional $1.755 billion in local spending and 13,487 jobs were generated by community college employees in fiscal year 2005. " More than nine out of 10 Illinois community college graduates remain in Illinois after completing college and contribute to the state's economy.

As a result, the total economic output of the community colleges on the Illinois economy in fiscal year 2005 was estimated at $2.551 billion and 55,407 jobs.

The full state study can be accessed on the ICCB website at www.iccb.org.

Athletics

In sports, the College of DuPage Chaparrals are a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

• Men's Sports: baseball, basketball, cheer team, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, and track & field.
• Women's Sports: basketball, cheer team, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field, and volleyball

Notable alumni and attendees

• James Belushi, an American sitcom actor
• John Belushi, the late American film actor and comedian
• Bob Odenkirk, an American comedy writer and actor
• Steven Best, an American animal rights activist, author, talk-show host, and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas at El Paso
• Paul Spicer, NFL football player

External links

• College of DuPage Official Site
• College of DuPage Library

Municipalities and communities of DuPage County, Illinois
County seat: Wheaton
Cities	Aurora | Batavia | Chicago | Darien | Elmhurst | Naperville | Oakbrook Terrace | St. Charles | Warrenville | West Chicago | Wheaton | Wood Dale
Villages	Addison | Bartlett | Bensenville | Bloomingdale | Bolingbrook | Burr Ridge | Carol Stream | Clarendon Hills | Downers Grove | Elk Grove Village | Glendale Heights | Glen Ellyn | Hanover Park | Hinsdale | Itasca | Lemont | Lisle | Lombard | Oak Brook | Roselle | Schaumburg | Villa Park | Wayne | Westmont | Willowbrook | Winfield | Woodridge
Townships	Addison | Bloomingdale | Downers Grove | Lisle | Milton | Naperville | Wayne | Winfield | York

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