Let’s not get too excited, please
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune editorial…
University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen has delivered excellent news: He’ll recommend a freshman tuition freeze for an unprecedented third year in a row. Killeen credits the tuition freeze with helping spur an overall increase in applications (up 13 percent) and acceptances, particularly from Illinois students.
That freeze is “dynamite in terms of not just letting parents know what they are getting into but also improving our competitive position vis-a-vis other states,” Killeen told us during a visit to the Tribune Editorial Board.
Dynamite? You bet.
Name a dozen other major state universities — heck, any universities — holding the line on tuition year after year.
OK, but not mentioned is that the U of I has the second highest undergrad tuition of any public school in the Big 10.
They have a long way to go before this is “dynamite” news.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 9:58 am:
How does tuition for a senior student at UIUC compare to that of a freshmen at the other Big 10 schools? Illinois’ gimmick known as “Truth in Tuition” means that all 12 of our public universities have to set it high for the first year so that they can collect a sufficient amount to cover what the increase would have been in the junior and senior year. The schools will tell you this law does nothing to reduce tuition for students. Its a marketing ploy and actually causes the schools to have to raise tuition higher than they would otherwise due to the state’s poor record of supporting the schools.
- Nieva - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:05 am:
How many billion does UI have in reserve? Most people would be shocked.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:07 am:
Rich, don’t be a pointdexter and confuse the tronclodytes with facts and numbers. Makes them even more unhinged.
The U of I is using ARM marketing: give them a teaser rate to commit, sock it to them in the following years.
- illinois bob - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:08 am:
I’d love to see what the actual numbers are for what it costs UIUC to educate undergrads, with a breakout for instruction and “overhead”. I suspect that tuition more than covers their instructional cost and the cost of facilities for instruction. Given the cheap TA rate they pay, I’d be surprised if it was more than most high schools.
They REALLY make their money off grad students who work on grants for a pittance while the professor and university pocket the lion’s share of the grant money. Grants are all what Killeen is about.
- Warthog - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:12 am:
Illinois is more expensive than Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State?
Is there a chart somewhere showing costs?
- Ghost - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:12 am:
highest in state or out of state?
- Ron Burgundy - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:16 am:
Actually incoming freshmen pay the same tuition rate for four years per the Undergraduate Guaranteed Tuition Program.
- Ret Prof - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:18 am:
Bob, High school teachers make a lot more than most professors.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:18 am:
wordslinger - by Illinois law, tuition can not go up in the following years.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:23 am:
Ron, anon, I did not know that. I stand corrected. Thank you.
- Robert the Bruce - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 10:55 am:
It is a bit odd that while Illinois is 2nd in in-state tuition, it ranks only 6th in out-of-state tuition.
@Warthog, see the link in Rich’s post.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:06 am:
===wordslinger - by Illinois law, tuition can not go up in the following years.===
Some caveats, but still a good policy. Must go continuously and maintain the status of a full-time student. At least that was the case when my child was there 4 years ago.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:08 am:
Is this guy channeling Jimmy JJ Walker with this “Dynamite” business?
U of I remains a very expensive option compared to most other state schools, even comparing out of state tuition. Indiana U and Iowa recruit very heavily in the suburban schools and do so very successfully.
- Robert the Bruce - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:11 am:
@A guy, from the link, Indiana charges more out-of-state than U of I does.
I’m not knocking Indiana, it is a good university, has good programs, but I believe U of I has a stronger overall reputation/ranking.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:22 am:
R the B, I would certainly agree with you about U of I being a stronger choice. There’s an early invest program from Indiana that allows savings that make it less that Champaign, even out of state. With the cost of college where it is, parents and kids are getting very savvy about finding these programs.
- A guy - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:23 am:
The number of local kids in Dupage County who attend Iowa is really shocking.
- Joe M - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:34 am:
WIU lowered tuition for the upcoming school year.
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=13193
- illini - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 11:39 am:
Good news, indeed, but “Dynamite” I’m not certain that is an appropriate term.
It is indeed good news for the “best of the best” in our High Schools who want to remain in-state for at least their undergraduate degrees.
I applaud my Alma Mater for doing this once again. Marketing tactic - probably, but worth it.
Illinois needs to continue to recruit the very best at all levels to maintain its status at what many rankings still maintain is a world class university in many academic fields.
There are many excellent Big 10 schools and Illinois is still one of the best by many criteria.
- Chucktownian - Wednesday, Jul 20, 16 @ 4:17 pm:
Since they’ve lowered admissions standards to keep growing their numbers at the expense of all the regionals, they’re able to do things like that. At EIU we froze our tuition to keep it affordable for the last three years and then Rauner’s veto almost caused us to close the doors.
But, hey, enjoy the high tuition and classes with several hundred students taught by graduate students. Try to convince yourself that is high quality education as well as tuition and tax money well spent.