Its mission is to provide professional development and networking opportunities for continuing education administrators and staff in community colleges in Illinois. In 1965, the Illinois General Assembly established the Illinois Community College Board to create a system of public community colleges that would be within easy reach of every resident. Community colleges serve more than one million Illinois residents each year in credit and non-credit courses and many more through their public service programs. Continuing Education is included in the mission statement of the Illinois community college system and is instrumental in promoting the success of each institution.
Community colleges are similar to each other and yet each college is unique.
While this may appear to be a contradiction, it is not. Illinois community colleges share a common mission. They prepare people for college, for transfer to other colleges or universities, and for good paying jobs that demand high skills. Community colleges also provide adult, literacy, and continuing education and services. What makes each college unique is how the college responds to the communities it serves.