University enrollment in Illinois grows to 10-year high despite some declines

Students walk across the lawn between the Illini Union in the fall of 2024. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Adams)

SPRINGFIELD — Enrollment at public universities in Illinois grew to a 10-year high of 189,791 students, a 2.3% increase over last year, according to figures released by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The numbers were driven mainly by growth in undergraduate enrollment, particularly among  incoming freshmen, which was up 6.8% from the previous year. They also reflect large increases in underrepresented student populations including Black student enrollment, which was up 9.7%, and Latino enrollment, which grew 8.3%.

“I think that is a product of the strategies and investments that we’ve made in the state of Illinois,” Deputy Gov. Martin Torres, who oversees education policy in Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration, said in an interview. “Students are choosing our institutions. And what I see is, seven of our 12 campuses seeing an increase in student enrollment is a huge win for the state.”

Torres highlighted the fact that since Pritzker took office in 2019, Illinois has increased funding for basic operating costs at universities and community colleges. It has also increased financial aid programs such the need-based Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants, and the merit-based Aim High scholarship program.

“I think part of the reason they’re choosing Illinois is because we’ve made it more affordable to go to college,” he said. “Part of the reason why they’re choosing Illinois is because the governor has created an environment where people feel welcome and valued.”

Statewide, however, the growth in undergraduate enrollment was partially offset by declines in graduate and professional school enrollment, especially among international students. Enrollment was also down at two of the state’s smaller regional campuses – Western Illinois University in Macomb, and Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Growing campuses

According to IBHE, the University of Illinois Chicago saw the largest growth with 1,967 more students, bringing its total to 35,869. But Chicago State University recorded the largest percentage increase, with 241 additional students, a 10.8% increase over the previous year.

“I think you have to give a lot of credit to the (CSU) President Z Scott,” Torres said. “She’s done a tremendous job over time of demonstrating the value of the product that they offer, of building strong, viable connections with industry and the business community.”

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the state’s largest university campus, added 1,614 students, or 2.7%, bringing its total enrollment to 60,848.

Other campuses that saw enrollment growth included both the Edwardsville and Carbondale campuses of Southern Illinois University, and Northern Illinois University.

Some declines seen

Overall, international student enrollment was down 6.5% across the public university system in Illinois. That included a 14.1% decline in international students enrolling in graduate and professional schools, a trend that Torres attributed directly to President Donald Trump and his administration’s immigration policies.

“Donald Trump is making it harder for students to obtain visas,” Torres said. “He’s restricting travel and he is open in his anti-immigrant rhetoric. The reality is, there is talent across the globe, and for decades, the United States has been a post-secondary anchor for global talents, and that’s changed dramatically under this administration.”

As for the shrinking campuses, both Western and Eastern Illinois have struggled financially in recent years.

In 2024, WIU announced it was cutting nearly 90 faculty and staff positions as part of a plan to meet growing budget pressures. And EIU announced in October it was also eliminating dozens of faculty and staff positions due to revenue declines brought on by several factors, including lower international student enrollment.

But others point to the state’s current formula for funding higher education and note that EIU and WIU are two of the least adequately funded universities in the state. The Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding, which has proposed legislation to overhaul the funding formula, estimated last year that EIU was being funded at 48% of its adequacy target while WIU was being funded at 46% of adequacy.

The proposed legislation, which failed to advance out of a Senate committee during the spring legislative session, would establish a new formula that would give underfunded schools like EIU and WIU priority for any new higher education funding. It would be similar to the Evidence-Based Funding formula that lawmakers have used for K-12 education since 2017.

‘Long-term brain drain’

Torres, however, said the Pritzker administration is not yet ready to back the new higher education funding plan.

“We haven’t taken a position on the proposal,” he said. “The governor has been focused on increasing access to financial aid, buoying the state’s investment in the institutions, and I think we’ve seen success from there. I think there’s probably going to be much more conversation about that proposal, and we look forward to it.”

But John Miller, president of University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, which represents about 3,000 university employees, issued a statement saying despite the enrollment report, Illinois is still losing students due to its chronic underfunding of higher education.

“Illinois continues to lose too many students to out-of-state public universities because it is simply more affordable for them to leave,” he said. “This long-term brain drain is the direct result of the state’s failure to invest, and no press release can cover that up.”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.