53 Comments - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:40 pm: Enrollment at UIUC is more than 51,000, first time they have broken the 50K mark. Record enrollment for 9th straight year. They also were recently named a top 20 university in the nation, which includes private and public schools. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:42 pm: Lower admission standards and full funding for 3 consecutive years help… - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:47 pm: Lower admission standards = top 20 university in the nation?? I’ll let you think about that Willy. And regardless, facts are facts. Record enrollment(still tough to get admitted) and top 20 status. - Steve - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:49 pm: Congratulations are in order to the U of I system for two reasons. 1) To put out enrollment records while Illinois is losing population is impressive . 2) College admission , nationally peaked in 2010. https://nalert.blogspot.com/2019/08/back-to-school-statistics-college.html - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:51 pm: ===Lower admission standards = top 20 university in the nation?? I’ll let you think about that==== Not much to think about. Get more folks, lower admission standards. I know you read the Trib article I always link, with school counselors even surprised at who was admitted. You know, LOL - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 1:53 pm: ===facts are facts=== Admission standards were and are lower. More folks go when admission standards are lowered. - Chicagonk - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:01 pm: The Western president is saying the right things, but it’s clear that leadership will need to look at right-sizing both the faculty and admin as I don’t see a way that Western gets back to it’s previous enrollment numbers. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:07 pm: ===To put out enrollment records while Illinois is losing population is impressive.=== (Sigh) Missing the bigger point to higher ed and Illinois. UIUC lowers it standards, keeps those likely to choose Wisconsin, Iowa, others schools. The cascading effect is the borderline admissions that once might go to ISU, NIU, SIUE, they now head to… Iowa, Iowa State… Instead of EIU, WIU, Carbondale being a fallback type of school for some, they be one a 4th choice, then money is factored in, then they’re “no choice” The whole higher education system needs to be healthy, not relish in a sugar high of lower admission standards at UIUC. Oh, those “top 10%” students still leaving Illinois for places like Alabama, Kentucky, Mizzou… because they are having free school thrown at them… are they choosing ISU, NIU, the others? This isn’t great news, this news highlights how much more higher ed needs to go in Illinois. - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:08 pm: Apparently at many state schools, more folks don’t go when admission standards are lowered. The average ACT to be admitted at UIUC is 28-29. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:11 pm: ===Apparently at many state schools, more folks don’t go when admission standards are lowered.=== I’ll link the article if you’d like. This ain’t the corner of the bar, or folks yelling at Tee-Vees… ===28-29=== An average means there’s lower scores too, lol You know… - Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:19 pm: ==Apparently at many state schools, more folks don’t go when admission standards are lowered.== Standards are only one part of this. Cost is a big factor. As Illinois cut funding to higher ed (by 50% since 2000), the universities raised tuition to make ends meet. Then, state schools in our neighbors saw an opportunity to get our kids by offering a discount to Illinois students. Why do Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, and Michigan value those students more than we do? (I include Wisconsin because even thou Scott Walker did some serious damage, it still did not match up to what Illinois has done.) - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:21 pm: I do know. As you know, I graduated from UIUC. As you know, my kids graduated from there. I get tons of materials from there on the facts, including from the Chancellor, who raves about the high quality of the students and the enrollment. So ya, I do know. BTW, average ACT at Mizzou and Iowa would be 26. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:26 pm: ===including from the Chancellor, who raves about the high quality of the students and the enrollment.=== Do you want me to show where Chancellor Jones worries aloud at the decimated funding, the enrollment numbers luckily not suffering, and the thanks for the funding since the impass? You paid “full price”… I know, you told me, lol ===So ya, I do know. BTW, average ACT at Mizzou and Iowa would be 26.=== If you go there for free on a merit scholarship, or pay tens of thousands of dollars less… that maters. Not everyone is on the “earned” scholarship you gave your kids, they earned by birth. - Because I said so.... - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:26 pm: I’m pretty certain the implementation of the AIM HIGH legislation significantly helped some universities keep students in Illinois. - illini - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:27 pm: Any discussion of my Alma, and the facts of its current students has to include the fact that there were over 43,500 who applied for admission, but only a bit over 25,000 were admitted. So it is still a go-to university ideal for many students. Granted many of those 25,000 also were accepted at other quality institutions as well. Tough decisions have to be made at that time. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:33 pm: ===Granted many of those 25,000 also were accepted at other quality institutions as well. Tough decisions have to be made at that time.=== Here’s the ball game, good stuff. While foreign students and admitting students where they’re willing to pay “full” tuition, Illinois as a state is losing quality students each time it’s a financial decision abd students can go to UIUC but choose another university to escape $200K of debt. Lower standards to get folks willing to pay, the other state universities struggle as they get squeezed by the neighboring states’ universities. This is bad news, overall, for higher education for Illinois as a state. - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:49 pm: So you are saying Willy that Chancellor Jones is not being honest in his correspondence with hundreds of thousands alums?? And it now costs $200,000 at UIUC? Wowzer! $50 grand a year?? I had no idea. - Downstate Dave - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 2:51 pm: WIU’s enrollment is alarming. When schools like EIU are succeeding, it makes you wonder what is going on in Macomb. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:02 pm: ===Chancellor Jones is not being honest in his correspondence with hundreds of thousands alums??=== I think angry alums at the end of the bar only read what good they think helps justify paying “full price” for things, lol ===And it now costs $200,000 at UIUC? Wowzer! $50 grand a year?? I had no idea.=== That’s my bad, as I’m looking at out of state tuition that students *could* be paying, but are saving with merit scholarships. UIUC… Tuition & Fees: $16,210-$21,214 Room & Board: $11,480 Books & Supplies: $1,200 Other Expenses: $2,500 Total: $31,390-$36,394 It’s $145k on the high end on for four years.. Or… nothing. - Not a Billionaire - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:10 pm: The neighbors are out with their enrollments. Indiana U system was slightly down. So was Iowa state. UNI comparable to our Regionals was way down and sounded an alarm. Have not heard about WI or MO.But we know our neighbors are aggressive here. - Not a Billionaire - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:13 pm: We are lucky their right wing regimes either blocked IA or shut down rail IN. Fail is what is keeping Macomb and Carbondale around. - anon - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:19 pm: Oswego Willy - can you provide actual data to support that UIUC has lowered enrollment standards? Aside from rankings remaining consistent (US news between 40th and 50th), the actual data does not show a decline. Per UIUC: “The Class of 2019 is the most academically talented group of new freshmen we’ve ever had, with an average SAT of 1348, an average ACT of 29.3, and an average GPA of 3.60″ https://enrollmentmanagement.illinois.edu/reports-data/ - Not a Billionaire - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:21 pm: The key figure for WIU is the full time undergrad enrollment at Macomb and that is 4343.Just posted at Instiutional Research. The other enrollment is nice but that is the core figure down 913 . - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:24 pm: - anon - shorturl.at/dmMOX Chicago Tribune, November 2015 ===After years of pursuing higher-paying international students and watching in-state enrollment fall, the University of Illinois’ flagship campus shifted course this year, increasing financial aid for students from Illinois but also taking the unusual step of accepting lower test scores.=== Adding… ===The school’s changes were noticeable. Sixty-nine students from Lyons Township High School, in Chicago’s western suburbs, enrolled at the university this fall, up from 59 a year earlier. College coordinator Lianne Musser said those accepted to business and engineering programs were as qualified as those from previous years, but in other programs, “We had maybe a couple that kind of raised eyebrows that they got in,” she said.=== “Questions?” - Not a Billionaire - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:24 pm: WQAD just posted the financial results of the athletic programs of both U of I and ISU. Only Iowa makes significant money. The others are great even. I say that because Illinois gets 5 million from the state in benefits to it employees Iowa does not contribute a cent. - Anonymous - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:33 pm: “We had maybe a couple that kind of raised eyebrows that they got in,” Weak. They might have had 2 or was it 1 that raised eyeballs. From 2015. That is your weakening standard point? LOL. - Pick a Name - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:33 pm: Maybe those “couple that got in” were athletes who qualified but had lower GPA’s and test scores. So a couple out of 51,000?? You are going to base your “lower standards” on a couple of kids??? Sheesh. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:35 pm: ===That is your weakening standard point=== The schools says it’s lowered the standards. We’re they raised? ===So a couple out of 51,000?? You are going to base your “lower standards” on a couple of kids???=== Tell that to the Counselor,… or better… the university… They said they lowered standards. - Soccermom - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:39 pm: The average ACT score varies dramatically depending on the College you’re looking at. The business and engineering schools are way more competitive than the other colleges, and they yank up the average ACT score significantly. So it’s possible to ease admissions for some of the other schools and still keep the average ACT score high. Oh, and here’s a pro tip for future students: If you want to go to U of I and study business/engineering, but you had trouble on your ACT, apply to another school with a lower average, work hard, get really good grades, and transfer over. You’re welcome. Here’s the breakdown for this year’s freshman class. The range given reflects the middle 50%. So that means that 25% of the engineering students had ACTs above 35, and 25% of the business students had ACTs above 33. College of Agricultural, Consumer, & Environmental Sciences ACT Score: 25-30 SAT Score (no writing): 1190-1400 GPA: 3.33-3.86 College of Applied Health Sciences ACT Score: 25-30 SAT Score (no writing): 1170-1370 GPA: 3.40-3.86 College of Education ACT Score: 24-29 SAT Score (no writing): 1160-1340 GPA: 3.36-3.80 College of Fine & Applied Arts ACT Score: 25-31 SAT Score (no writing): 1210-1410 GPA: 3.23-3.81 College of Liberal Arts & Sciences ACT Score: 28-34 SAT Score (no writing): 1310-1500 GPA: 3.50-3.93 College of Media ACT Score: 26-31 SAT Score (no writing): 1230-1430 GPA: 3.30-3.77 Division of General Studies ACT Score: 25-30 SAT Score (no writing): 1180-1410 GPA: 3.29-3.75 Gies College of Business ACT Score: 29-33 SAT Score (no writing): 1350-1480 GPA: 3.56-3.92 Grainger College of Engineering ACT Score: 32-35 SAT Score (no writing): 1430-1540 GPA: 3.73-4.00 School of Social Work ACT Score: 23-27 SAT Score (no writing): 1100-1250 - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:47 pm: With a nod to - Soccermom -, well done. Whew. ===Maybe those “couple that got in” were athletes=== Two points; If they are, then UIUC has the worst recruiting EVER with lower standards, lol Athletes bring more money, annually to a university than arguably any other source the university may use, include television exposure and athletic revenues. I can’t help that the alleged “lower standard” athletes aren’t performing, you can’t blame it on academics, ya just said they ain’t all that in the classroom. - anon - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:47 pm: Oswego - Ponder this. You say “UIUC lowered standards” which means, per a 2015 article, the school wondered “have we raised the bar too high” for one factor (ACT scores). That does not equate with a lowered standards for admission. Further, lowered standards and increased admission would, by definition, result in the admission of larger numbers of students with lowered test scores. Except, UIUC has not seen any such lowering of its incoming class. Again, I ask is there any data that shows UIUC has lowered admission standards? I pointed you to the website with class profiles for the past 8 years. - City Zen - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:48 pm: ==UIUC lowers it standards, keeps those likely to choose Wisconsin, Iowa, others schools.== Agreed, but… ==The cascading effect is the borderline admissions that once might go to ISU, NIU, SIUE, they now head to… Iowa, Iowa State…== A “borderline” UIUC candidate would consider the directionals over, say, Iowa? - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:51 pm: ===Ponder this. You say=== No. UIUC says. Keep up. It’s in the link. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:54 pm: ===Again, I ask is there any data that shows UIUC has lowered admission standards?=== They are saying they lowered, you even grabbed it; ===we did ask ourselves, have we raised the bar just a little too high?=== So… they lowered. Purposely. ===That does not equate with a lowered standards for admission.=== Ya lower the bar, that’s lower standards for admission. Pounding the table won’t change that, lol - Anon - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:55 pm: Seriously, they didn’t. Please cite an actual statistic to back up your assertion that UIUC has lowered admission standards. That’s my third request for you to actually prove your assertion. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:57 pm: ===Seriously, they didn’t.=== LOL…. Seriously, they did. It’s a strategy. That table is gonna be in the ground you keep pounding it like that. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 3:59 pm: ===A “borderline” UIUC candidate would consider the directionals over, say, Iowa?=== Which… those pesky merit scholarships… come into play and making Iowa attractive by price and “presitige” We don’t value other in-state Illinois universities as we should. - Illinilaw - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:02 pm: Average ACT score 29. Wow. - anon - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:07 pm: Oswego Willy - Your inability to cite any statistic shows you haven’t a clue what you are talking about. - anon - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:11 pm: Soccermom, The growth at UIUC has not come from engineering. In 2019, they admitted 1,628 freshmen into the college. Essentially the same numbers as 2014 (1,566) and 2013 (1,609). So, UIUC has not offset supposedly poorer performing applicants in other schools by increasing engineering admissions. The same is true of business. Instead, growth has largely come in LAS (though applied health sciences and agriculture have seen large percentage increases). - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:11 pm: ===Your inability to cite any statistic shows you haven’t a clue what you are talking about.=== Who is lying, the university or the Tribune, you choose. ===After years of pursuing higher-paying international students and watching in-state enrollment fall, the University of Illinois’ flagship campus shifted course this year, increasing financial aid for students from Illinois but also taking the unusual step of accepting lower test scores. … The school’s strategy followed pressure from lawmakers, university trustees and parents to enroll more in-state students, and it appears to have worked: The number went up by 11 percent.=== Your beef is with the Tribune, the University… but for the love of Pete, the table is dead, stop pounding on it, lol - City Zen - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:13 pm: ==Which… those pesky merit scholarships… come into play and making Iowa attractive by price and “prestige” We don’t value other in-state Illinois universities as we should.== Agreed. In the Age of Instagram, prestige and branding are bigger motivators than people want to admit. The directionals have an uphill battle with parents and students. I still think the hypothetical Naperville parents…who just paid two decades worth of exorbitant property taxes for junior’s education…only for junior to get turned down down by UIUC…even thought junior “scores well”…is heading to Iowa, Arizona, Alabama… - anon - again - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:22 pm: OW - Funny. You say UIUC lowered standards and point to the Trib’s take on a single quote from one administrator in 2015. I point to actual admission data to show that standards have not lowered. You’re done. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:28 pm: ===You say UIUC lowered standards and point to the Trib’s take on a single quote from one administrator in 2015=== #FakeNews Is that it? When did they change this strategy? “Fake News… it can’t be true” LOL Like a Trumpkin, if pounding on the table fails… “Fake News” I know what’s next, of course… “They only admit the top students… the best students” - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:29 pm: ===University President Timothy Killeen has made it clear there aren’t as many in-state students as he would like. If that means another small decrease in test scores, Tucker, the vice provost, is OK with that. “I wouldn’t want us to start on a downward path,” he said. “But if what we saw is a little ripple as we kind of level out here, I’d be happy with that.”=== Call Mr. Killeen, he’s in the book. - illini - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 4:51 pm: While this discussion about admission standards has a place it should not be the major topic of this discussion. As I said earlier there were over 43,500 students who applied for admission and only about 25,000 that met the minimum qualifications for acceptance. So it is not like the University is being dumbed down by any significant degree. And add to this, USNews ranks the University at #14 among public universities and in the top 50 of national universities. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 5:02 pm: ===the minimum qualifications=== They were lowered, no matter how many applied, or how few are accepted. The real issue is terribly complex; In state admissions In state costs MAP, financial aid, merit scholarships Foreign student ratio vs. monies gained in tuition Thinking this is just a U of I system thing about an enrollment bump is masking so many problems higher education is facing here in this state, and President Killeen has a policy of getting and keeping Illinois students by lowering admission standards. ===So it is not like the University is being dumbed down by any significant degree.=== The equilibrium needed is trying to make higher ed competitive, affordable, and a place our own students are going. Being so thin-skinned that you’re concerned paying sticker price for higher ed must mean everything there is the best is not addressing anything. These are sugar high things. - Flyer - Thursday, Sep 12, 19 @ 7:50 pm: Enrollment issues go back to the previous administration’s total lack of support for higher education, creating a crisis of confidence in the entire state system - Pick a Name - Friday, Sep 13, 19 @ 7:36 am: Apparently to one person here, facts and ongoing first hand experience with the university are irrelevant. And to think that all someone needs to do is apply to Iowa, Mizzou, Alabama, etc. and they just magically waive tuition and all other costs is simply misguided. A few gifted students may receive these perks, most do not. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 13, 19 @ 8:28 am: ===Apparently to one person here, facts and ongoing first hand experience with the university are irrelevant.=== This is the “I know” defense. You “know” more than the Chancellor, and you ignore President Killeen’s plan. ===And to think that all someone needs to do is apply to Iowa, Mizzou, Alabama, etc. and they just magically waive tuition and all other costs is simply misguided.=== They have merit scholarships. The Chicago Tribune did a whole article about it on Alabama alone. But of course, “you know” I get it, it’s pride, and this “I paid full prune so it’s gotta be better” thing. ===A few gifted students may receive these perks, most do not.=== If we’re talking students who can get into UIUC, according to you, which isn’t lowering standards, odds are, if that student applies somewhere else, they could get merit scholarship offers. Or is UIUC accepting “anyone”? - Pick a Name - Friday, Sep 13, 19 @ 9:02 am: Well, since other posters have provided facts that UIUC does not accept anyone(which hopefully you know)….. Ignore facts, that is your choice, but to argue and debate quite a few people on here and ignore the facts they present, well, that is pretty obtuse. But, sometimes I forget, that if there was a discussion about the economy in Oswego, your debate would center around the Asian carp population in Lake Michigan. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Sep 13, 19 @ 9:09 am: ===Ignore facts,=== The chancellor, the president. Your beef is with them… and the Tribune… ===ignore the facts=== Please, as a Trumpkin, call it “Fake News” from the “failing Chicago Tribune, and two nobodies at UIUC”… that’s how you ignore truths, lol ===But, sometimes I forget, that if there was a discussion about the economy in Oswego, your debate would center around the Asian carp population in Lake Michigan.=== I have no idea what that all means, but I’m guessing that was on the tavern TV before you yelled at it. - Texian - Monday, Sep 16, 19 @ 11:08 am: UIUC lower admissions standards to save itself during the crisis of the last several years. They frequently went back and admitted the entire wait list and started calling those they had rejected. My favorite thing is the misleading way they describe the criteria of their admitted class with that “middle 50%” thing. BTW that also means that 25% have lower scores than the ranges they supplied. Like many schools, UIUC bet on international students for fiscal salvation. Trump has now killed that for them. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.