Ups and Downs in University Enrollment in Illinois

There was good news for Eastern and the U of I, but bad news for SIU and Western concerning Fall 2018 university enrollment.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education has released fall enrollment figures as compared to the three previous years.

EIU's Fall 2018 enrollment is at 5,892, up from 5,339 a year ago. EIU is still down 19% from Fall 2015 enrollment of 7,282, but up 10% from 2017.

The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign had a Fall 2018 enrollment of 50,755. That's up 2%, or 1,121 students, from last year and up 7% from Fall 2015 levels.

SIU Carbondale has seen a significant dip in enrollment, 14,995 in Fall 2015 to 10,851 this fall, a 28% drop and a 13% reduction from last year.

SIU Edwardsville has also seen a drop, although not as large as Carbondale, from 11,985 in Fall 2015 to 10,942 this fall, a drop of 9% and a 5% drop from last fall.

Western saw a drop in enrollment from 9,561 in Fall 2015 to 7.260 this fall, a 24% drop and down 11% from last fall.

Illinois State University is experiencing stable enrollment, from 18,183 in Fall 2015 to 18,115 this fall.

Total enrollment for undergraduate and graduate students at the state's 12 public universities stands at 163,786, 2,301 fewer students than one year ago, or about 1%.

Dr. Al Bowman, executive director at IBHE, said, "Such a small decrease indicates that the worst of the enrollment decline may be over. But the disparity between universities remains a concern."