University of Illinois welcomes record number of students for new school year
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said it saw a record number of freshmen enroll for this academic year, with 9,008 first-year students.
That brought a record total student enrollment of 59,238, including those attending on campus and online.
"A hallmark of our great university is excellence at scale, and we are delivering on that statement now more than ever," said Chancellor Robert J. Jones in a statement. "We have an impressive track record of not only enrolling students, but also ensuring they are making progress, graduating and going on to careers or graduate programs. We are committed to making sure that continues to be our reality."
About 71% of this year's freshmen class is from Illinois, representing 85 out of the state's 102 counties. The rest of the class comes from 43 other U.S. states and territories and 48 other countries.
About 22% of the incoming freshmen class are first-generation college students, and 22% of the incoming students are also from underrepresented groups.
The university said its new enrollment from underrepresented populations has increased by 19%. That included a 3.6% increase in its Hispanic population and a 2.5% increase in African American students.
The school also enrolled a record number of total graduate students with 20,765.
At the University of Illinois Chicago, this year's total student enrollment of 33,906 was the second-largest in school history, and a 1.1% increase over last year. UIC saw enrollment increases among undergraduates, new transfer students, Black or African American students and online students.
About 37% of this year's freshman class at UIC attended Chicago Public Schools and 91% were from Illinois.
At the University of Illinois Springfield, enrollment remained steady this year with 4,628 students, compared to 4,661 last year. About 67.9% of UIS students were from Illinois.
