How UIC is defying the odds and actually growing

[Tugg Speedman]

All Midwest Universities, including MU, are struggling with enrollment.  The biggest reason is demographics.

(I also highlighted a passage that better belongs in the Amazon HQ2 discussion about millennials, and now Gen Y, being more urban and not interested in the suburbs like boomers and Gen X.

How UIC is defying the odds and actually growing

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180126/ISSUE01/180129903/how-uic-is-defying-the-odds-and-actually-growing

Student enrollment is dropping at many major local universities, but one school is defying the trend: University of Illinois at Chicago.

UIC is at peak enrollment after three years of growth. In this, the Near West Side campus is moving in tandem with the region's pricier players, University of Chicago and Northwestern University, where enrollment is up slightly. Meanwhile, DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University grapple with a downward slide.

UIC is capitalizing on what the school says is a post-millennial preference for urban settings, and it's likely benefiting from the school's affordability, too, while peers try to adapt to the baby boom's bust. Universities nationwide grew accustomed to rising enrollments when boomers' kids were registering, but the number of high school graduates has plateaued and is expected to be lower in a decade.

[MU82]

And all this time, we thought our model was St. Louie U!

[4everwarriors]

Really doubt super selective schools like U of Chicago and NU are worried 'bout enrollment, aina?

[GGGG]

It doesn't make a lot of sense to say its simply about preference for urban settings, when another urban public university (NE IL) is seeing a decline.  My guess is that its mostly about marketing.  Now maybe they are marketing their urban setting, like 99% of the urban schools do, but they are simply the "hot" school right now.  It happens.

[warriorchick]

It doesn't make a lot of sense to say its simply about preference for urban settings, when another urban public university (NE IL) is seeing a decline.  My guess is that its mostly about marketing.  Now maybe they are marketing their urban setting, like 99% of the urban schools do, but they are simply the "hot" school right now.  It happens.

Also, my guess is that quite a number of those students are Chicago kids that a few years ago would have gone to Champaign. Tuition,  room and board runs over $31k a year for in-state students, and as UIC continues to improve its reputation academically, it might make more sense for some of these kids to stay home.

[forgetful]

My guess is that budget pressures leading to Chicago St not being able to meet payroll last year and massive budget cuts to Eastern Illinois, that let them to being barely operable, has led to a decline in enrollment there.  UIC being more of a flagship institution got them more attention/security.  Simply a transfer of enrollment between similar types of institutions. 

Assigning this to a millennial thing is completely wrong.

The numerical decline at Chicago State from 2015-2017 is equivalent to the growth at UIC. 

This is neither a surprise or unexpected.

[jesmu84]

Heisy was clearly looking for more evidence to support his "millenials are more urban" stance.

[Tugg Speedman]

Heisy was clearly looking for more evidence to support his "millenials are more urban" stance.

Where Educated Millennials Are Moving
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petesaunders1/2017/01/12/where-educated-millennials-are-moving/#786ae208d3cc

Here's what I take away from this:

Core cities are growing at a slightly stronger rate than outlying suburban areas.  Taken together, between 2010 and 2015 the core cities of the 33 largest metro areas added 1.09 persons for every one person added to the outlying suburban areas.  Over that period, cities grew by 6.1%, while the metro areas with cities excluded grew 5.5%.  New York City led the way here, adding 2.17 persons for every one person added to its suburban areas.

Core cities are attracting far more educated Millennials than outlying suburban areas.  Nationally, the core cities of the 33 largest metro areas added 1.52 educated Millennials for every one added to their surrounding suburbs.  In all, core cities in 27 of 33 metro areas performed better than suburban areas in this regard.  Chicago far outperformed all other core cities in gaining educated Millennials, pulling in nearly 16 for every one added to the surrounding suburbs.

Chicago is a significant outlier in its attraction and concentration of educated Millennials.  The Chicago numbers are worthy of closer inspection. At the metro level, as expected, Chicago has the third highest number of educated Millennials, after New York and Los Angeles.  However, between 2010 and 2015, that number grew only 7.2%, the lowest figure of the 33 metros examined.  Furthermore, the number of educated Millennials in outlying suburban areas grew less than one percent in the same period.  But an interesting transition is taking place in Chicago.  Despite the city representing about one-quarter of the metro area's population, about half of educated Millennials in the metro area are choosing to live in the city, and that number is rapidly rising.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Heisy was clearly looking for more evidence to support his "millenials are more urban" stance.

I disagree with a lot Heisy says, but at this point in time I do think Millenials do lean towards living in urban areas.

Just from people I went to Marquette with, the ones from Suburban Milwaukee or suburban Minneapolis all live in Chicago.

Small sample size yes, but there's basis for it.

[Tugg Speedman]

I disagree with a lot Heisy says, but at this point in time I do think Millenials do lean towards living in urban areas.

Just from people, I went to Marquette with, the ones from Suburban Milwaukee or suburban Minneapolis all live in Chicago.

Small sample size yes, but there's basis for it.

And while there is no data (yet), I would argue it is even stronger for Gen Y.

And they are more important than baby boomer managers.

So out is the suburban corporate campus and its corner office as its ultimate status symbol.  In is co-working offices where millennials want to be.  In Chicago that would be Fulton Market District.  Green Street might be the hottest corporate address in Chicago (and maybe the country).

As companies relocate to big cities, suburban towns are left scrambling
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-companies-relocate-to-big-cities-suburban-towns-are-left-scrambling/2017/07/16/81c12cea-618d-11e7-84a1-a26b75ad39fe_story.html?utm_term=.729fb18be417

Visitors to the McDonald's wooded corporate campus enter on a driveway named for the late chief executive Ray Kroc, then turn onto Ronald Lane before reaching Hamburger University, where more than 80,000 people have been trained as fast-food managers.

Surrounded by quiet neighborhoods and easy highway connections, this 86-acre suburban compound adorned with walking paths and duck ponds was for four decades considered the ideal place to attract top executives as the company rose to global dominance.

Now its leafy environs are considered a liability. Locked in a battle with companies of all stripes to woo top tech workers and young professionals, McDonald's executives announced last year that they were putting the property up for sale and moving to the West Loop of Chicago where "L" trains arrive every few minutes and construction cranes dot the skyline.

In Chicago, McDonald's will join a slew of other companies — among them food conglomerate Kraft ­Heinz, commodities giant ADM and telecommunications firm Motorola Solutions — all looking to appeal to and be near young professionals versed in the world of e-commerce, software analytics, digital engineering, marketing and finance.

Such relocations are happening across the country as economic opportunities shift to a handful of top cities and jobs become harder to find in some suburbs and smaller cities.

And Rahm has this 100% right.  If you cannot code, you have no power right now.  And coders want to live in urban areas.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) said the old model where executives chose locations near where they wanted to live has been upturned by the growing influence of technology in nearly every industry. Years ago, IT operations were an afterthought. Now, people with such expertise are driving top-level corporate decisions, and many of them prefer urban locales.

"It used to be the IT division was in a back office somewhere," Emanuel said. "The IT division and software, computer and data mining, et cetera, is now next to the CEO. Otherwise, that company is gone."

The migration to urban centers threatens the prosperity outlying suburbs have long enjoyed, bringing a dose of pain felt by rural communities and exacerbating stark gaps in earnings and wealth that Donald Trump capitalized on in winning the presidency.

McDonald's may not even be the most noteworthy corporate mover in Illinois. Machinery giant Caterpillar said this year that it was moving its headquarters from Peoria to Deerfield, which is closer to Chicago. It said it would keep about 12,000 manufacturing, engineering and research jobs in its original home town. But top-paying office jobs — the type that Caterpillar's higher-ups enjoy — are being lost, and the company is canceling plans for a 3,200-person headquarters aimed at revitalizing Peoria's downtown.

"It was really hard. I mean, you know that $800 million headquarters translated into hundreds and hundreds of good construction jobs over a number of years," Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis (R) said.

As McDonald's embraced technology, it decided that it needed to be closer not just to workers who build e-commerce tools but also to the customers who use them, said Robert Gibbs, the former White House press secretary who is a McDonald's executive vice president. That is because the next generation of fast-food consumers may be more likely to arrive via iPhones than drive-throughs.

"The decision is really grounded in getting closer to our customers," Gibbs said.

The site of the new headquarters, being built in place of the studio where Oprah Winfrey's show was filmed, is in Fulton Market, a bustling neighborhood filled with new apartments and some of the city's most highly rated new restaurants.

[Disco Hippie]

Really doubt super selective schools like U of Chicago and NU are worried 'bout enrollment, aina?

Exactly!  Yet MU is at least perception wise is going in the exact opposite direction.  I know I know they've adopted a highly targeted recruiting strategy where they don't want students likely to be denied to even apply.   Although this strategy has been successful near team and the avg test scores and gpa's haven't declined and continue to increase, I'd be willing to bet a lot of $$$ that this strategy will backfire over time and discourage if not outright repel exactly the type of bright ambitious but not quite Northwestern and U of Chicago material students Marquette claims they want to enroll more of from even applying.  It's already happening actually and the great kids at the Trib were right to do the in-depth piece about this issue and question the administration about their current enrollment strategy.  They need to cast a much wider net, and play up Marquette's urban appeal.   Although I haven't been there in 5 years, my understanding is that downtown MKE is on fire right now with all the new development and influx of college educated professionals, so they need to take advantage of that, cast as wide a recruiting net as possible focusing more on great PUBLIC high schools instead of doubling down on catholic and Jesuit high schools

[warriorchick]

Exactly!  Yet MU is at least perception wise is going in the exact opposite direction.  I know I know they've adopted a highly targeted recruiting strategy where they don't want students likely to be denied to even apply.   Although this strategy has been successful near team and the avg test scores and gpa's haven't declined and continue to increase, I'd be willing to bet a lot of $$$ that this strategy will backfire over time and discourage if not outright repel exactly the type of bright ambitious but not quite Northwestern and U of Chicago material students Marquette claims they want to enroll more of from even applying.  It's already happening actually and the great kids at the Trib were right to do the in-depth piece about this issue and question the administration about their current enrollment strategy.  They need to cast a much wider net, and play up Marquette's urban appeal.   Although I haven't been there in 5 years, my understanding is that downtown MKE is on fire right now with all the new development and influx of college educated professionals, so they need to take advantage of that, cast as wide a recruiting net as possible focusing more on great PUBLIC high schools instead of doubling down on catholic and Jesuit high schools

[Dr. Blackheart]

If this is an urban trend in school choice for UIC, then why are the schools you list, which are all a couple of blocks away from UIC, all the decliners? 

UIC is up because Champaign is trying to attract more higher priced students from out of state and internationally...and UIC upped its academics. 

Consumer companies are moving to Chicago because of tax breaks, the cloud due to the financial infrastructure, and a more centralized location to attract labor today. 

When Millennials start having kids (soon), those suburbs will fill back up for the schools and cheaper housing costs as all the Boomers will have moved into the city.  Businesses will follow.

The circle of life, Heise.

[Galway Eagle]

If this is an urban trend in school choice for UIC, then why are the schools you list, which are all a couple of blocks away from UIC, all the decliners? 

UIC is up because Champaign is trying to attract more higher priced students from out of state and internationally...and UIC upped its academics. 

Consumer companies are moving to Chicago because of tax breaks, the cloud due to the financial infrastructure, and a more centralized location to attract labor today. 

When Millennials start having kids (soon), those suburbs will fill back up for the schools and cheaper housing costs as all the Boomers will have moved into the city.  Businesses will follow.

The circle of life, Heise.

Doubt it. I think the traditional subdivision the boomers and x's loves so much will be on a vast decline. Even the most suburban people I know don't wish to move back to Barrington Orland Park or Naperville.

[warriorchick]

Doubt it. I think the traditional subdivision the boomers and x's loves so much will be on a vast decline. Even the most suburban people I know don't wish to move back to Barrington Orland Park or Naperville.

We'll see.

For counterbalance to your anecdotal evidence, I will provide my own and say I know tons of folks who loved the city, but bought out in the suburbs once their kids got to school age. 

[GGGG]

Doubt it. I think the traditional subdivision the boomers and x's loves so much will be on a vast decline. Even the most suburban people I know don't wish to move back to Barrington Orland Park or Naperville.

I'm a 50 year old GenXer.  People were saying the same thing about my generation 25 years ago. 

But then people have kids.  Want more space.  Want a yard to run around in.  Want good, affordable public schools.  Want less crime.

Now some may tire of it as the kids grow up and move out.  But the suburbs have always been around, and always be around.

[Pakuni]

We'll see.

For counterbalance to your anecdotal evidence, I will provide my own and say I know tons of folks who loved the city, but bought out in the suburbs once their kids got to school age.

Exactly. Many of those Boomers and GenXers who "love" their traditional subdivison started out as 20somethings who lived in the city and, in many case, swore they'd never leave. But when kids enter the picture, circumstances and priorities change, and the suburbs look way more appealing.
I suspect the millennials will, for the most part, be no different.

[warriorchick]

I'm a 50 year old GenXer.  People were saying the same thing about my generation 25 years ago. 

But then people have kids.  Want more space.  Want a yard to run around in.  Want good, affordable public schools.  Want less crime.

Not to mention that once the kidlets start showing up, you don't have the time or the energy to eat at all those trendy restaurants or attend those great cultural events.  Plus, I bet babysitting fees are crazy in the city, and if you bring your kids with you, you will likely get an appropriate dirty look from everyone else.

[GGGG]

Not to mention that once the kidlets start showing up, you don't have the time or the energy to eat at all those trendy restaurants or attend those great cultural events.  Plus, I bet babysitting fees are crazy in the city, and if you bring your kids with you, you will likely get an appropriate dirty look from everyone else.

Exactly.  Some days you just want to prop the kids up at a table at BWW and have a beer.

[Dr. Blackheart]

We'll see.

For counterbalance to your anecdotal evidence, I will provide my own and say I know tons of folks who loved the city, but bought out in the suburbs once their kids got to school age.

I remember, living in Lincoln Park and Lakeview saying "I will never own a family van".  Five family vehicles and two surburban houses later...

Now, all the Boomers, like Heise, are moving back into the city, looking to park their capital gains and driving real estate and rental prices up...

[Galway Eagle]

I suppose we'll see 🤗 but put me on the I couldn't live in a traditional suburb train. I could do a near suburb with legit urban style set up but not one where it's driving everywhere because there's three highways and no sidewalks between the house and place you're going. Maybe in 6 years I'll hit my mid 30s and you'll all be laughing at me though.

[Tugg Speedman]

I remember, living in Lincoln Park and Lakeview saying "I will never own a family van".  Five family vehicles and two surburban houses later...

Now, all the Boomers, like Heise, are moving back into the city, looking to park their capital gains and driving real estate and rental prices up...

I never left, raising my four kids in Lincoln Park.

And my anecdotal story is the private schools are filled, all grades, new private schools are opening every year (including a brand new British School literally on UIC's campus) and my neighborhood is filled is strollers and 10-year-olds.

[Tugg Speedman]

BTW, I feel everyone here is conflicted, including me.  We are all promoting the scenario that best inflates the value of our home.

No one wants to admit they own a home in a place that was desirable when they bought it but is in decline (in desirability) now.

[Dr. Blackheart]

BTW, I feel everyone here is conflicted, including me.  We are all promoting the scenario that best inflates the value of our home.

No one wants to admit they own a home in a place that was desirable when they bought it but is in decline (in desirability) now.

With the nannies pushing the strollers?  You need to get out of your LP Enclave a bit more, aina?

[warriorchick]

I never left, raising my four kids in Lincoln Park.

And my anecdotal story is the private schools are filled, all grades, new private schools are opening every year (including a brand new British School literally on UIC's campus) and my neighborhood is filled is strollers and 10-year-olds.

Not every young person that shared a semi-crappy apartment in Rogers Park right out of college with a roommate or two will be able to afford to eventually move to an affluent area of the city and pay for private school tuition.  Those are going to be a plurality of the folks moving out to the burbs, along with the folks that would rather have 2,500 square foot house on a quarter acre in Wheaton for the same price as a  900 square foot condo in Lakeview.