Blackburn College - Carlinville, Illinois

Noah D.

I graduated from Blackburn College in 2018 with a degree in Graphic Arts, and my experience there was very transformative. Coming in as a first-generation, lower-income student, I was not optimistic about college, but Blackburn provided the perfect journey for me to find myself and improve my life.

Small class sizes allowed for attention from faculty, who were so invested in my success. This was helpful for me building a solid foundation in my field. The hands-on experience I gained through Blackburn’s Work Program was incredible—giving me real-world skills that set me apart when I entered the workforce as a graphic designer.

My time on the cross country team was another highlight of my college journey. Running for Blackburn was not just about athletics; it was about self-improvement, teamwork, and growth that shaped who I am. The support from Coach Hopping and my teammates was awesome.

After a successful six years working as a professional graphic designer, I was excited to return to Blackburn as the full-time Cross Country and Track and Field Coach. It’s been an honor to give back to the college that gave me so much, and I’m also proud to serve on the Alumni Association. Blackburn is the type of place that you can give a lot to, and it gives you back so much more.

If you’re looking for a college that offers a personalized, hands-on education with a STRONG sense of community, I can’t recommend Blackburn enough. It’s a place where you can grow, both academically and personally, and leave with the skills, and confidence to succeed in your career and life!

Chris S.

I have mixed feelings about Blackburn College. I spent a collective amount of around 3 to 3.5 years on this campus. It definitely has its perks, but it does not come without its flaws as well. Blackburn, as a college, is pretty standard if you're not going into their biology program, however, as it felt that it was the only department truly up to date on the campus.

Now, the actual campus is beautiful--especially during the autumn. That is something I will never deny. The small town vibe can be nice if you're looking for that in a college. For me, the town was bigger than I was used to, but not big enough for me to be truly happy with. However, with it being right in the middle between St. Louis and Springfield, both being only an hour drive, it does make it nice for a nice weekend away from campus if you so choose. As mentioned before, the biology program is amazing, and while other departments may lack the same amount of funding, they surely make up for it in their staff. While attending, the professors of the English, history, and teaching departments almost always had students singing their praise (myself included for many). The community of students, I will say, are great! I made many close friends on campus, and it felt that we all had each others' backs at times.

However, Blackburn doesn't come without its downfalls. The sports are nothing to get too excited about, as I never recall any of our teams winning too much in all honesty, though I'm not much for sports in the first place. A couple of the dormitories (namely Butler and Stoddard Hall) lacked air conditioning. While they were cheaper than the alternatives, Butler was the only dormitory that had a gender inclusive floor, meaning you had to lack A/C if you were gender non-conforming and wanted to be comfortable in the dorms (if they had enough room, as the hall did not house many students). Jewell Hall, another dorm hall, had black mold growing at multiple instances through my time there. Yet Blackburn decides that Graham and Jones halls are the ones in need of renovations and has dumped money into them. And the small town vibe can be nice if you're not a minority. As a member of the LGBT+ community, I felt as if I had to walk on eggshells in certain places around campus to avoid judgement (I even had a professor that taught my Grammar and Usage course swear by every right that they/them was solely plural pronouns...I am non-binary). I also heard many accounts of POC students that were discriminated against in different manners throughout town.

Now, I saved the work program for last, as I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it is a good program. It helps students build resumes and in some fields that they'd need to have a degree before being hired in (such as journalism, administration, etc.). However, having it be entirely student ran is inherently a flaw. As 18-22 yr olds, many are unable to truly be unbiased at times. After seeing multiple General Managers of campus, it became an unspoken rule that you had to essentially be friends with the previous ones to have a chance to even get the position. If favoritism happens as often as it does in the real world, doesn't it make sense that developing minds would be more apt to do it? Especially considering that they could reason it by telling themselves that they just have more experience with X person compared to others. There was even a time I witnessed an Assistant Manager of a department resign because the Department Manager of that department was her ex, who was constantly putting her down and shoving more responsibilities on her. He proceeded to hire THREE people to replace the work she had been doing. Thankfully, she came back and became department manager of that department (and did AMAZINGLY well). But she shouldn't have had to deal with that harassment in the first place.

Blackburn is not a perfect college. Many things need to be changed before I could tell anyone to attend this college with confidence. I just hope that the administration actually take some criticisms more seriously.

Harry D.

Fantastic school! Not huge like state schools, but spread out enough. Beautiful campus. Great teachers. Work program is great. And the town/community of Carlinville is such a special place. You would never go wrong picking this school. Visit there and you'll fall in love!

Donna M.

My daughter attended Blackburn, played volleyball and ran cross country
The work program not only made college affordable but gave her a great resume.
She was General Manager her senior year 2012. She loved her entire college experience. Excellent school and professors are top notch. Definitely a great school.

Carl H.

Beautiful campus. It's a working college, helps save on tuition, and teaches kids some responsibility working for the college to save some tuition dues. Liked most campuses this one tends to bow down to political influences during this time of pandemic and socially unrest

Angel W.

My husband and I went to see a play put on by the students at Blackburn College. It was fantastic! If you ever get a chance to go to a show there do it! The cost of the tickets was much less than expected and the show was worth way more than we paid to see it.

John B.

Great if you love a small town atmosphere for a college. Some really good teachers. Very affordable. Work program is cool. I enjoyed it.

Edward Z.

Been teaching biology here for 25 years. Working closely with students as part of our work program provides a much more meaningful experience. I am proud of what we can do!