U of I tuition freeze

#1      
Hi, old alum here, living out of the area. Saw this article today in the Trib

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-of-illinois-tuition-0122-20160121-story.html

I'm curious about this statement "Illinois students have turned down the U. of I. to attend other Midwest institutions that offer competitive tuition — even for nonresidents — and better financial aid packages".

What schools are today's students picking over U of I? Back in the day I remember a good academic scholarship at Bradley might win a kid over Illinois. The occasional wealthier kid who also got into Michigan/Wisconsin would occasionally choose that over Illinois despite OOS tuition. What's now called Truman State was just becoming more competitive and stealing an occasional Illinois acceptee. Iowa, Indiana, and Arizona State were generally for those who didn't get into Illinois. I'd love to hear the word on the street among today's youth, who is compelling these days?
 
#2      

Stevegarbs

Mokena, IL
Hi, old alum here, living out of the area. Saw this article today in the Trib

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-of-illinois-tuition-0122-20160121-story.html

I'm curious about this statement "Illinois students have turned down the U. of I. to attend other Midwest institutions that offer competitive tuition — even for nonresidents — and better financial aid packages".

What schools are today's students picking over U of I? Back in the day I remember a good academic scholarship at Bradley might win a kid over Illinois. The occasional wealthier kid who also got into Michigan/Wisconsin would occasionally choose that over Illinois despite OOS tuition. What's now called Truman State was just becoming more competitive and stealing an occasional Illinois acceptee. Iowa, Indiana, and Arizona State were generally for those who didn't get into Illinois. I'd love to hear the word on the street among today's youth, who is compelling these days?

Iowa and Missouri recruit Illinois HARD and get lots of kids. Two former Illini classmates of mine are sending their girls to each school- and both picked it over Illinois. Missouri offers residency and even cheaper in-state tuition after one year- all a freshman has to do is stay in Columbia for the summer after and get a part-time job someplace and bingo, they are a Missouri resident for sophomore year. :(
 
#4      
At the game at Purdue I sat next to a guy with an Illini sweatshirt and a Purdue tshirt underneath. From Illinois, an alum, and two daughters studying engineering in large part because tuition was less. THAT should concern somebody.
 
#5      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
At the game at Purdue I sat next to a guy with an Illini sweatshirt and a Purdue tshirt underneath. From Illinois, an alum, and two daughters studying engineering in large part because tuition was less. THAT should concern somebody.

I have a co-worker whose son (Illinois resident) was accepted to both Illinois and Purdue for engineering. She said the financial aid package that Purdue offered blew Illinois out of the water. So - he's a freshman at Purdue this year.
 
#8      

Fillory

4th Floor Grainger
I have a co-worker whose son (Illinois resident) was accepted to both Illinois and Purdue for engineering. She said the financial aid package that Purdue offered blew Illinois out of the water. So - he's a freshman at Purdue this year.

I can't imagine a package from Purdue making it as affordable as Illinois, but I've been out of this whole thing for some time.
 
#9      

ijustkrushalot

Iowa Corridor
Hi, old alum here, living out of the area. Saw this article today in the Trib

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-of-illinois-tuition-0122-20160121-story.html

I'm curious about this statement "Illinois students have turned down the U. of I. to attend other Midwest institutions that offer competitive tuition — even for nonresidents — and better financial aid packages".

What schools are today's students picking over U of I? Back in the day I remember a good academic scholarship at Bradley might win a kid over Illinois. The occasional wealthier kid who also got into Michigan/Wisconsin would occasionally choose that over Illinois despite OOS tuition. What's now called Truman State was just becoming more competitive and stealing an occasional Illinois acceptee. Iowa, Indiana, and Arizona State were generally for those who didn't get into Illinois. I'd love to hear the word on the street among today's youth, who is compelling these days?

i mean, the school is continuing to see record enrollment. It's hard to argue that people are not going to Champaign when more people are going to champaign every year. What's beyond a crisis at this point is that nobody is going to to Charleston or Macomb and Carbondale isn't doing too hot either...

the problem Illinois (the state) has is that it lacks an alternative to UIUC... ISU/NIU/UIC aren't cutting it for that second tier of students... Iowa for crissakes has two pretty solid and diversified campuses with all the perks of a major conference and huge student body.
 
#10      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
I can't imagine a package from Purdue making it as affordable as Illinois, but I've been out of this whole thing for some time.

The net difference was more than $60k over 4 years, which more than made up for the out of state penalty. And, this was solely academic related, not need-based.
 
#11      
When Illinois comes out and publicly says they dont want in state residents, that they'd rather have foreign student because they pay more, it's easy to understand the situation. Illinois State has really capitalized on UofI's stupidity and brought in more freshman the last two years than they ever have before, with competitive rates and financial aid assistance.
 
#12      

Fillory

4th Floor Grainger
When Illinois comes out and publicly says they dont want in state residents, that they'd rather have foreign student because they pay more, it's easy to understand the situation. Illinois State has really capitalized on UofI's stupidity and brought in more freshman the last two years than they ever have before, with competitive rates and financial aid assistance.

No offense to ISU, but if you pick ISU over Illinois in most programs, Godspeed.

Illinois is right, in a state like Illinois you want at least 15% of your students from out of state. The problem was they told everyone they were increasing the amount of out of state students. They should have just done it gradually.

Also, remember the University is owned money from the state, so every student from in state is essentially being subsidized by the school. The fact is, you get in state tuition because you pay taxes, but if the state doesn't allocate your taxes correctly, I'm glad the school has the financial prowess to go out of state for actual money.
 
#13      
I actually know a friend whose kid (grew up mostly overseas and doesn't really have a strong home-state) recently chose Michigan over Illinois for engineering. Comment was that Illinois seemed like a better program, but that the kid felt out of place at U of I because most students come from a similar experience coming from Illinois/Chicago - vs Michigan which because it draws students from all over the country feeling more like a National University feel. That was the report....
 
#14      

Fillory

4th Floor Grainger
I actually know a friend whose kid (grew up mostly overseas and doesn't really have a strong home-state) recently chose Michigan over Illinois for engineering. Comment was that Illinois seemed like a better program, but that the kid felt out of place at U of I because most students come from a similar experience coming from Illinois/Chicago - vs Michigan which because it draws students from all over the country feeling more like a National University feel. That was the report....

In all likelihood, that feeling predated showing up on campus. Feels more like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.

More power to them if they want to pay more to go somewhere worse.
 
#15      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
I actually know a friend whose kid (grew up mostly overseas and doesn't really have a strong home-state) recently chose Michigan over Illinois for engineering. Comment was that Illinois seemed like a better program, but that the kid felt out of place at U of I because most students come from a similar experience coming from Illinois/Chicago - vs Michigan which because it draws students from all over the country feeling more like a National University feel. That was the report....

I thought I read somewhere that UIUC has a very diverse student body, both ethnically and geographically. Not that UM doesn't, of course, but I've never had the opinion that UIUC didn't have a large national/international draw, even going back to my time 30 years ago.
 
#16      

Stevegarbs

Mokena, IL
I actually know a friend whose kid (grew up mostly overseas and doesn't really have a strong home-state) recently chose Michigan over Illinois for engineering. Comment was that Illinois seemed like a better program, but that the kid felt out of place at U of I because most students come from a similar experience coming from Illinois/Chicago - vs Michigan which because it draws students from all over the country feeling more like a National University feel. That was the report....

Yikes this is hard to believe considering the huge influx in international students to UIUC in the past decade. We compared GoBlow Engineering to UIUC very directly 6 years ago and saw no discernible differences in the student body along these lines.
 
#17      

Bob Christiansen

4th & Chalmers, a few years ago...Now? Weeki Wach
Christ, going back to '78-'81, tons of Chinese students, many many middle eastern, particularly Iranian, the handicapped student body (sorry if that offended anyone, that's what they were called in my day)...not to mention all the kids from downstate, Rockford, quad cities...I thought we were pretty damn diverse! This from a suburban boy...
 
#18      

Fillory

4th Floor Grainger
Yikes this is hard to believe considering the huge influx in international students to UIUC in the past decade. We compared GoBlow Engineering to UIUC very directly 6 years ago and saw no discernible differences in the student body along these lines.

I think it goes without saying that with any admissions stories, YMMV.

At the end of the day, people choose not to go to Illinois and are willing to make up whatever reason they feel they didn't go, and that's fine.

Christ, going back to '78-'81, tons of Chinese students, many many middle eastern, particularly Iranian, the handicapped student body (sorry if that offended anyone, that's what they were called in my day)...not to mention all the kids from downstate, Rockford, quad cities...I thought we were pretty damn diverse! This from a suburban boy...

University of Illinois is quite a diverse student body and is likely on par with the rest of the midwestern public universities. People who cite Chicago as the reason they didn't attend have no idea how diverse Chicago and the rest of the state is.
 
#19      
"Christ, going back to '78-'81, tons of Chinese students, many many middle eastern, particularly Iranian, the handicapped student body (sorry if that offended anyone, that's what they were called in my day)...not to mention all the kids from downstate, Rockford, quad cities...I thought we were pretty damn diverse! This from a suburban boy.."

This is actually consistent with what I was told by the parents. It had nothing to do with racial diversity - mind you, just that most students had a shared "Chicago/Illinois" experience. I think Illinois has accepted internationals - because they pay full price and are usually technically prepared to succeed. But I believe Illinois remains behind say Wisconsin/Michigan in accepting (and competing for) American students from other states - regardless of race.

I do think Fillory's comment is true though, and likely played a role.
 
#20      
PS - just googled and found some stats. Illinois isn't doing so bad, just some other BigTen schools seem to do a lot of it.

It seems the bigger the state, the harder it is to let lots of out of state kids in because you need to find slots for your taxpayers first. See UCLA and Texas below:

Out of state enrollment:

Indiana: 45% !
Michigan: 40%
Wisconsin: 35%
Purdue: 35%
Illinois: 27%
Maryland: 22%
Georgia: 19%
UCLA: 8%
Texas: 3%
 
#21      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
PS - just googled and found some stats. Illinois isn't doing so bad, just some other BigTen schools seem to do a lot of it.

It seems the bigger the state, the harder it is to let lots of out of state kids in because you need to find slots for your taxpayers first. See UCLA and Texas below:

Out of state enrollment:

Indiana: 45% !
Michigan: 40%
Wisconsin: 35%
Purdue: 35%
Illinois: 27%
Maryland: 22%
Georgia: 19%
UCLA: 8%
Texas: 3%

Down here in the south, a lot of the state schools are really pushing for out of state kids, mostly to improve their admissions metrics and rankings. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, FSU, and Kentucky (that I know of for sure) offer a TON of academic scholarships to out of state students. My son is at FSU and has about 85% of his tuition covered by virtue of being OOS. Most of the kids on the Florida "Bright Futures" program don't get much more unless they're top 10% of their HS class.
 
#22      

Fillory

4th Floor Grainger
PS - just googled and found some stats. Illinois isn't doing so bad, just some other BigTen schools seem to do a lot of it.

It seems the bigger the state, the harder it is to let lots of out of state kids in because you need to find slots for your taxpayers first. See UCLA and Texas below:

Out of state enrollment:

Indiana: 45% !
Michigan: 40%
Wisconsin: 35%
Purdue: 35%
Illinois: 27%
Maryland: 22%
Georgia: 19%
UCLA: 8%
Texas: 3%

If Chicago were in Indiana, I would fully expect the Illinois and Indiana numbers to be flipped.

Texas and UCLA are notorious for making in state tuition super low relative to what we have in Illinois.
 
#23      

Illinois88

United States
There are some good schools with out of state tuition cheaper than U of I's in state.

Some privates, both in-state and out-of-state, depending ones GPA, ACT/SAT and financial need can offer scholarships equal or lesser than Illinois' tuition for in-state and out-of-state potential students.

Public universities like Mississippi and Arizona are trying to offer full-tuition scholarships to stellar in-state kids. I know Arizona's Honors College is top notch so that attracts kids who are Ivy League caliber students from the state to stay.

To be honest, if I had a kid and he applied to N'western and got a good chunk of aid from the school that it competes with Illinois' in-state tuition or makes it lower I'd say go to N'western (if he wants engineering then I'd no doubt suggest Illinois, regardless). If he applies to any of the Ivies and if they offer a generous aid package I'd say choose the Ivy over Illinois.
 
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#24      

Illinois88

United States
I thought I read somewhere that UIUC has a very diverse student body, both ethnically and geographically. Not that UM doesn't, of course, but I've never had the opinion that UIUC didn't have a large national/international draw, even going back to my time 30 years ago.

I do know that an in-state kid may feel Illinois is too Midwest centric, even too much Illinois/Chicago centric, in that he wants a more US geographically diverse student body, but Illinois definitely isn't lacking in international students so I think the young man's gripe is a little misguided. It's natural for people to segregate themselves with people who have similar interests and, dare I say it, ethnic backgrounds e.g. ethnic clubs/fraternities/sororities. In my undergraduate experience as well my siblings international students usually befriended fellow international students more. It is what it is.

Concerning U of M. My cousin attended U of M and most of his friends came from his karate and equestrian club. I know a few from Yale and a majority of their friends came from the interest groups they belonged to - many of which were from the states.
 
#25      

Illinois88

United States
But I believe Illinois remains behind say Wisconsin/Michigan in accepting (and competing for) American students from other states - regardless of race.

True. Illinois excels at attracting international students, but it doesn't really compete with students that aren't from the Midwest. I know a kid from the state of Texas who was in Illinois' engineering program and another from Massachusetts who was in the music program. Other than those two, Illinois pretty much draws it's US students from in-state and neighboring states.

If we take the aforementioned students into account, Illinois' top programs attract qualified out-of-state applicants who then go on to matriculate, but it doesn't attract nearly the same academically strong students as any of the Top 25 it seems. With that said, I believe the top students from Illinois (and any state flagship) would compete against the majority of any Top 25 university/college students.
 
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