Enrollment grew nearly 5 percent to more than 94,700 students across the University of Illinois System this fall, setting a record for the ninth straight year despite the pressures of a global pandemic, President Tim Killeen announced today.
This fall’s enrollment also tops an ambitious five-year goal set by Killeen and the Board of Trustees in 2017 as part of a Strategic Framework to guide the system over the next decade. The high-aspiration target sought a nearly 15 percent increase to about 93,600 students by the fall of 2021. Actual enrollment grew 16 percent, from 81,499 in fall 2017 to 94,750 this fall.
Numbers are based on enrollment on the 10th day of classes at the system’s universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. Ten-day figures are the traditional benchmark for reporting enrollment among U.S. colleges and universities.
Killeen said the ongoing enrollment records reflect the hard work of university admissions staff, the system’s academic excellence and its commitment to student affordability and success. The system has frozen in-state tuition in six of the last seven years and has doubled institutional financial aid to more than $258 million over the last decade. Student retention and graduation rates exceed national averages, and students graduate with less debt.
“I am proud that we continue to build on the core mission we have carried since our founding,” Killeen said. “Our record enrollment is giving more and more students the opportunity for a world-class education that will transform their lives. And, at the same time, it is expanding the pipeline of world-class talent that is now so crucial to move Illinois forward.”
Killeen also credited the system’s commitment to student safety during the COVID-19 crisis. A groundbreaking saliva-based testing and surveillance program developed by Urbana-Champaign researchers enabled a full year of hybrid instruction last year with no serious student illnesses and will be used again this year as universities return to mostly in-person classes.
System-wide, enrollment grew across all student categories, led by an 11 percent increase in graduate students, from 26,937 to 29,912. Undergraduate enrollment increased 2.2 percent to 59,561, up from 58,258. Professional enrollment rose 2.5 percent, from 5,148 to 5,277.
The U of I System also saw gains among in-state students, another priority of its Strategic Framework, a roadmap to build on service to students and the public good.
Fall enrollment growth includes a 1 percent increase among in-state undergraduates, from 47,270 to 47,740. The system has made in-state recruiting a priority, seeking to stem an out-migration of Illinois students to colleges in other states. Studies show college graduates tend to stay in the state where they studied, so out-migration is a loss for Illinois and its economy. Illinois residents comprise more than 80 percent of undergraduates enrolled this fall across the system.
Expanded outreach to recruit underrepresented students also helped achieve gains in enrollment of Latinx undergraduates, which increased for the 17th straight year, up 3.6 percent from 12,460 to 12,904. After eight straight years of increases, enrollment of Black undergraduates decreased 2.8 percent, from 4,196 to 4,079. Combined, Black and Latinx enrollment comprises about 29 percent of the system’s undergraduate enrollment.
Total Black enrollment was up slightly, from 6,258 to 6,266. Enrollment of Black graduate students grew 3.7 percent, from 1,712 to 1,775, while professional enrollment increased 17.7 percent, from 350 to 412. Total Latinx enrollment increased 4.8 percent, from 15,332 to 16,062. Graduate enrollment was up 8.5 percent, from 2,324 to 2,522, while professional enrollment grew 16.1 percent, from 548 to 636.
Breakdowns for each university can be found in news releases from Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield.
