The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois voted Thursday to increase the base tuition rate for Illinois-resident undergraduates enrolling in fall 2025 by 2.2% at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois Chicago and 2% at the University of Illinois Springfield.
The increases are below current rates of inflation but will help the universities meet rising costs driven by inflation. The modest increases follow tuition freezes in seven of the previous 10 years, part of the University of Illinois System’s commitment to maintaining affordability and access.
The new tuition rates will only impact new undergraduates enrolling in 2025-26. Under state law, resident undergraduates enrolling in public universities are guaranteed four years of unchanged tuition.
“These modest increases will allow our universities to balance critical operating needs and the excellence our students and their families count on with the affordability we are committed to providing,” U of I System President Tim Killeen said. “Our trustees have voted to hold tuition costs in check over most of the past decade, something that has a profound impact on the families of Illinois and the students they send to our universities.”
Under Thursday’s vote, new full-time, in-state undergraduates enrolling in the fall will pay base tuition of $12,992 per year in Urbana-Champaign, $11,424 in Chicago and $9,840 in Springfield.
Modest increases were also approved for nonresident students enrolling in the fall.
Trustees also approved increases in room and board costs: a 5% increase at Urbana-Champaign to $13,848 a year; a 5% increase in Chicago to $14,130 a year; and a 4.4% increase in Springfield to $11,866 a year.
The U of I System provides $298 million in financial aid a year, an increase of about $104 million over the past decade. Combined with state and federal aid, financial assistance enables more than a third of system undergraduates to pay no tuition or fees.
More than 67% of all Illinois-resident undergraduate students enrolled across the system receive some form of financial aid and over 51% pay less than $3,000 per semester. Illinois resident students make up 79% of all undergraduate enrollment.
Ruiz elected board chair, Gutman reappointed
Trustees on Thursday also unanimously voted to name Jesse Ruiz chairman of the board.
Ruiz was elected to a one-year term, replacing Donald J. Edwards. Edwards served as chair for six one-year terms and left the board at the end of his term last week.
Ruiz was appointed to the board by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023.
Ruiz is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics, and of the University of Chicago Law School.
He is partner, general counsel and chief compliance officer with The Vistria Group and was deputy governor for education from 2019-21.
“I am honored to be selected by my colleagues to follow in the footsteps of Don Edwards as the next chair of the board of trustees,” Ruiz said, “Due to the years of good work building strong alignment with President Killeen, I am fortunate to take the helm at a time when the University of Illinois System has great positive momentum and makes real impact to benefit the citizens of Illinois.”
Killeen said he looks forward to working with Ruiz.
“I’ve worked closely with Chairman Ruiz in his roles as deputy governor and trustee and congratulate him on this new leadership role,” Killeen said. “He is a passionate believer in the power of public higher education and an innovative thinker. I look forward to continuing to work together on behalf of the people of Illinois.”
Among a number of other service roles, Ruiz is a past president of the Chicago Bar Association and of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners. He has also served as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education and interim CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.
Ruiz lives in Chicago.
Trustee Joseph Gutman also has been reappointed to a new six-year term by Pritzker, effective Jan. 21.
Gutman is a past partner with BDT Capital Partners, managing director and head of the business development team with GSM Grosvenor, and partner and co-head of U.S. institutional equities with Goldman Sachs.
He is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, earning a bachelor’s degree in accountancy, and of the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.
Gutman was originally appointed by the governor in 2022.
Edwards and Trustee Patricia Brown Holmes have both left the board as their terms expired. Their seats remain open until replacements are appointed by Pritzker.
President’s House
Trustees also voted Thursday to make the President’s House in Urbana the primary residence for the chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign following the end of Killeen’s tenure.
Trustees also indicated they will determine at a later date the future location of the U of I System president’s primary residence, calling it a strategic priority that requires further consideration.
The house in Urbana was completed in 1931 and designated by the trustees as the official residence of the president of the University of Illinois. The structure of the university has changed in the decades since, including the addition of the universities in Chicago and Springfield and the creation of other entities such as the Discovery Partners Institute in Chicago and the Illinois Innovation Network across the state.
Trustees also indicated that designating the house in Urbana as the Chancellor’s House will be a positive factor in hiring future chancellors.
Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones has announced he will step down at the end of the current academic year and the search for a new chancellor has begun.
Killeen, who became president in 2015, received a new contract in 2024 that extends his term through June 2027.
Chicago athletic director
Also Thursday, trustees appointed Andrea Williams as the director of athletics at the University of Illinois Chicago, effective Jan. 24. She has served in a designate capacity since Nov. 16.
Williams’ previous roles include CEO of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, chief operating officer at the College Football Playoff, commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, associate commissioner for the Big Ten Conference and director of the NCAA’s Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
Williams earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree from Ohio University.
