BLOOMINGTON - About 30,000 college students are getting situated on Central Illinois campuses this month. The annual influx of students has meant record growth for some schools and stable enrollment for most others.

About 20,000 degree-seekers started class at Illinois State University on Aug. 18. Nearby Illinois Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts school, begins class today.

IWU received about 3,300 applications for this fall. But, the campus is maintaining its target enrollment of 2,100, said Dick Wilson, IWU president. About 590 students make up the incoming class.

The school's academic profile continues to be the strongest in the region. The average ACT score is 28, and many IWU students come from the top 15 percent of their high school class, said Tony Bankston, IWU admissions dean.

Two other Normal-based campuses also started classes last week: Heartland Community College and Lincoln College-Normal.

Heartland passed a major milestone this fall: Student enrollment has surpassed 5,000 for the first time, said college spokeswoman Janet Hill-Getz. By last Friday, 5,060 students had registered, though like all schools in the area, official enrollment numbers aren't released until after the 10th day of the fall semester.

Along with IWU, several other schools start classes this week: Eureka College starts Wednesday. Lincoln College's main campus, a two-year residential college in Logan County, starts class Tuesday, as does nearby Lincoln Christian College and Seminary.

When students start class Wednesday at Eureka College, they'll find themselves in a larger group than years past. For the third consecutive year, the school saw record fall enrollment.

About 760 students are expected. That's an 11 percent increase over 2007 enrollment. Among that group will be Eureka's largest-ever incoming class. The 254 new students include 154 freshmen and 100 transfer students. About 55 of Eureka's students are part of the school's adult education bachelor degree completion program.

Meanwhile, combined data for Lincoln College's main and Normal campuses shows stable enrollment, with about 1,200 students, said Heather Mueller, Lincoln's vice president for enrollment management and student services.

About 965 of Lincoln's students are traditional 18- to 24-year-olds seeking degrees. One area of Lincoln College that's experiencing growth is the Accelerated Bridge to Education, said Mueller. The program is geared toward adults seeking to complete a bachelor degree. In less than a year the enrollment, which starts every five weeks, has grown to more than 100 students.

Lincoln Christian College's fall enrollment is 975, both baccalaureate students and seminarians, the latter group working on divinity degrees.

Overall enrollment is down slightly this fall, from last year's 1,056, but seminary enrollment is increasing, said Marla Rubel who works in the academic affairs office.