Enrollment this fall across the University of Illinois System grew to a record high for the seventh straight year, increasing 3.8 percent to nearly 89,000 students, President Tim Killeen announced today.
Combined enrollment at the system’s universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield grew to 88,861 from 85,597 a year ago, based on enrollment as of Monday, the 10th day of classes. Ten-day figures are the traditional benchmark for enrollment among U.S. colleges and universities.
This fall’s enrollment growth keeps the system on pace to meet a five-year goal of topping 93,600 students by the fall of 2021. Enrollment has increased by 9 percent, or nearly 7,400 students, since the fall of 2016.
“When our state sends the message that Illinois schools are world-class centers of learning and are worth our investments, they attract world-class students,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Since taking office, I’ve worked hand-in-hand with members of both parties to give our students the funding they deserve, whether it’s expanding scholarships to another 10,000 students, increasing operating funding for all our schools and universities or investing $3 billion in fixing facilities and building world-class classrooms. Higher education in Illinois has a bright future.”
Killeen said the enrollment gains reflect ongoing efforts to build on affordability, educational offerings and academic excellence. Tuition for in-state freshmen was frozen this fall for the fifth straight year, the longest consecutive freeze in more than 40 years, and institutional financial aid has increased threefold to about $230 million annually over the last decade. Academic initiatives also are underway to expand faculty, add classroom programs and improve facilities across the system.
“Students are at the center of everything we do and we are committed to opening our doors wider, providing opportunities that will transform more lives and expand the pipeline of world-class talent that drives progress for our state and nation,” Killeen said.
Total enrollment across the system grew by 3,264 students, including 1,066 students with the John Marshall Law School’s move this fall to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Even without the addition of Chicago’s first public law school, system-wide enrollment grew 2.6 percent from a year ago, or about 2,198 students.
The enrollment increases are in line with strategic priorities set by universities as part of a system-wide growth plan that calls for undergraduate increases at UIC and growth of graduate enrollment in Urbana-Champaign. UIC saw a 4.1 percent increase in undergraduates this fall, or 858 students, while graduate enrollment in Urbana-Champaign jumped 11.2 percent, by 1,644 students.
The U of I System also saw gains among in-state and underrepresented students through other initiatives created under its Strategic Framework, a roadmap that sets high-aspiration goals to build on service to students and the public good.
Fall enrollment growth includes a 1.6 percent increase among in-state undergraduates, from 45,955 to 46,705. 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 graduates tend to stay in the state where they studied, so the out-migration is a loss for Illinois and its economy. Illinois students comprise over 80 percent of undergraduates enrolled this fall across the system.
Expanded outreach to recruit underrepresented students also helped achieve gains in enrollment of Latino undergraduates for the 15th straight year and African-American undergraduates for the seventh straight year. Enrollment of African-American undergraduates increased 2.4 percent, from 4,041 to 4,138, while undergraduate Latino enrollment was up 5.9 percent, from 11,214 to 11,881. Combined, African-American and Latino enrollment comprises about 28 percent of the system’s undergraduate enrollment.
More students each year also are identifying themselves as multi-race and this category too is showing growth, up 3.3 percent from 1,821 to 1,882 this fall across the U of I System.
Total enrollment of international students at all levels increased 2 percent from 15,350 to 15,666. Enrollment across the system includes students from every state and more than 100 countries.
Undergraduate enrollment across the system grew 1.6 percent to 58,165 this fall, up from 57,270 a year ago. Graduate school enrollment increased 5.7 percent, from 24,152 to 25,530, and enrollment of professional students was up 23.7 percent, from 4,175 to 5,166 with the addition of the new UIC law school. Excluding those students, professional enrollment was stable, increasing by 13 students.
The system’s enrollment growth included records at each of its three universities. In Urbana-Champaign, total enrollment topped 50,000 students for the first time, with a 3.8 percent increase to 51,196 that set a new record for the ninth straight year.
At UIC, enrollment topped 33,000 for the first time, increasing 5.4 percent to 33,390, a record for the fifth straight year.
At the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), a smaller liberal arts campus, freshman enrollment increased 18 percent to a record 373 students, but total enrollment was down 6.6 percent to 4,275. The decrease was in part-time students and enrollment of full-time students remained unchanged.
In Urbana-Champaign, freshman enrollment increased 0.7 percent from 7,609 last fall to 7,665. African-American undergraduate enrollment increased 5.6 percent, from 2,005 to 2,118, and Latino undergraduate enrollment rose 7.8 percent, from 3,994 to 4,305.
At UIC, freshman enrollment increased 6 percent, from 4,159 last fall to 4,407. Enrollment of African-American undergraduates increased 0.6 percent, from 1,628 to 1,637, and Latino undergraduate enrollment was up 4.7 percent, from 6,967 to 7,297.
Along with its record freshman class, UIS saw African-American undergraduate enrollment decrease by 6.1 percent, from 408 to 383, and a 10.3 percent increase in Latino undergraduates, from 253 to 279.
