We are in state. When an AC visited my DD’s high school, they talked about how they were now offering merit scholarships to keep top Illinois students from going OOS.
My DD has been offered LARGE scholarships to other flagship OOS schools. Has anyone with super high stats gotten any of this mysterious merit money?
According to the 18-19 common data set for UIUC, they gave $5,000 per year on average for merit aid. Not that great. Unless this promise is new to the class of 2024, it seems false.
The new money is not pure merit in the sense of being offered only on academic credentials, as it also has a need-based component. The “Aim High” program is targeted to the top 5% of applicants but has maximum income limits and requires a FAFSA:
https://osfa.illinois.edu/types-of-aid/other-aid/aim-high-program/
The newer “Illinois Commitment” program is need-based and for free tuition/fees for families earning 61K or less.
Other state flagships can always offer more money on average to OOS applicants because the difference between their resident and non-resident tuition can be $15K up to $35K. $20K-$25K is a typical difference in B1G schools, so they can easily offer pure merit up to that amount to attract top students. Some offer even more to the very best applicants.
My experience also supports this, as #2 earned a 3K/year departmental scholarship plus a summer research grant in ACES and was still a finalist for another 2.5K/year award before she declined her UIUC offer to attend UMN-TC instead. She got a lot more merit money than that at Minnesota, but of course the total cost is still higher there. Both my kids knew people at their school who earned larger 4-year university-wide awards with lower stats than they had, presumably due to hooks or other factors.
There’s no transparency with scholarships as there doesn’t seem to be any public information on them, we just hope they aren’t subject to stuff like the admissions scandal from a few years ago! To be fair, #1 has earned modest additional engineering and physics scholarships each year so far. You have to apply every spring with a couple reference letters but he has maintained a 4.0 GPA in a very rigorous dual major, so I’m glad it is being recognized. The merit awards are there, but the larger 4-year ones seem to be very rare or require an amazing application for consideration.
UIUC’s decision as to how to allocate the merit funds from the state is disappointing…first off, to tie it to income limits, and second, the allocation of funds to a very small group of students. Instead of say doling out a modest amount to a large number of students, they gave $20,000 scholarships to that small group. I don’t know how that strategy will play out in retaining Illinois students.
My expectations were set when I went to a Blue and Orange Day with my elder student-first thing said by one of the speakers was “…we aren’t giving you any money.”
I agree. If their objective is as stated to keep top students in state, then more awards of smaller value would give more recognition to those with highest actual academic merit. Keeping everything secretive under a cloak of subjective factors and hooks like a private elite university doesn’t help.
The lure of OOS flagships is that their merit money is often based primarily on academic merit. Some even publish what GPA and test scores will earn you for one on their website or in their cost calculators. It doesn’t hurt that a $15K per year award looks and feels a lot better than $0 in recognition from UIUC, even if the other school is still more expensive. For example, that $15K/year award from Alabama or Michigan State for 29ACT and high GPA looks great on paper, but they still end up being more than UIUC over 4 years if you add up the total actual costs.
@illinoisx3 I’m not sure I agree that more awards of a smaller value would help the state retain top students. Personally, I’m not a fan of ego stroking for validation…never paid my kids for grades, never would.
Income limits for merit allocation doesn’t bother me, since I don’t think the Honors programs have that stipulation. The AIM HIGH Program sounds good to me. I’d rather see 1 needy top-stat kid receive $20K than 4 kids from the North Shore, Hinsdale or the like, each get $5K…but that’s me.
In my opinion the way to keep students in state is to make the degrees valuable. UIUC has done a good job elevating/maintaining the desirability of many of their degrees, especially those in the Colleges of Engineering and Business.
I may be wrong, but even some recognition and money are better than nothing, especially given the time, stress and effort kids put into high school. My thinking is that even a few thousand per year is a nice pat on the back and may even be enough in many cases tip the balance in total cost over 4 years vs. that big money OOS merit award at another school. Whatever the best way may be, it doesn’t seem like their current methods are working all that well for the purpose of retaining top Illinois students. I think the new Aim and Commitment programs are fine. The other existing “merit” programs need some more objectivity and transparency.
I agree about the value of some degree programs. Certainly UIUC resident tuition was the lowest cost for #1 in a top 10 Engineering/Physics program, making it the best value.
I agree that Grainger and Gies are getting good outcomes, yet it hasn’t slowed the relentless pace of students leaving the state and is not offset by OOS students coming to Illinois. Hard to overcome the large, negative net migration.
@illinoisx3 I don’t think you’re wrong. As a parent you know your child and the “pat on the back” would be welcome. But recognition of effort can come in other forms…Dean’s List, James Scholar, or a simple conversation from you.
I would use this opportunity to discuss the big picture with your son or daughter. They’re often more savvy than we know. They understand that with limited dollars a school has to make decisions it believes will make the university stronger. Would it make sense to give a higher stat kid, say from Hinsdale who drives a Range Rover, a few thousand dollars instead of a kid with perhaps slightly lower stats who attended a high school with fewer academic and extracurricular offerings? Talk about it with them. We did and it helps. (In our case, it also helped that one of their high school field trips was to spend a school day at Kenwood Academy…it was eye opening to them!)
@Mwfan1921 I’m not sure if the large, negative net migration can be attributed to UIUC. The Class of 2023 had the largest freshman enrollment in the school’s history. https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/802663
I believe the migration is largely due to students choosing to go OOS when they don’t get admitted to their desired major. There’s a reason for the thread “UIUC reputation in Illinois ”.
Illinois produces a very large number of academically strong graduates, who probably, for whatever reason, disproportionately want to major in engineering or business.
Look at the number of students in Grainger and Gies. I’ll focus on Gies because my kids are Gies graduates. The common data set said there were 591 freshman enrolled in the Fall of 2019. http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/
Then imagine the number of high school graduates who want to major in business from all the top high schools in the state. Then consider what those kids choose to do if they aren’t direct admitted.
Another interesting discussion with your kids is about students from the same or similar nearby high schools who appear wealthier but have lower stats and GPA who receive full-tuition merit awards, then turn it down to go to a private elite. If it’s need-based aid, great, call it that. The new programs I mentioned seem like very good ideas. If it’s pure “merit” to attract top students, then don’t play games with non-academic or other subjective factors that invite abuse. After all, UIUC is the state flagship and the whole point of merit aid is to attract top students. Many good students can’t attend due to academic or financial limitations. There are many other state schools that are less expensive and easier for admission.
The bigger problem is that UIUC still has perhaps the highest public in-state tuition levels in the midwest and lags only a little behind Penn State in the conference. The recent string of tuition freezes has put UIUC closer to Michigan, Rutgers and a couple of others, but when your residents pay that much then it’s a lot easier for other flagships to target your state with high merit awards to lure the best and brightest students and still offer a net cost at or above their own resident rates.
@illinoisx3 I agree talking with your kids about “students from the same or similar nearby high schools” can be an interesting discussion to have that can help put things (the perceived randomness of college admissions) in perspective.
We talked with our kids about comparing themselves to their peers. In the age of Instagram it’s difficult not to, yet it’s a double-edged sword. Friends who appear to get a “better deal“ may for a variety of reasons your child never considered. Perhaps talking about different reasons may help. Talk about it from the university’s point of view.
Their whole life they can make comparisons and be miserable. The trick is to reframe the situation so they can accept what they can’t change in a healthy way.
We’ve told our kids many times to “run their own race”. But we also said we realize that using the word ‘race’ implies a competition. However in our opinion, a race means you are aware of what is going on around you, while not getting caught up in having to be first. Your own happiness shouldn’t depend on what others are doing. Define your own happiness.
@88jm19 I was talking more about the objectivity of merit awards at UIUC to keep top students from going OOS like the original poster asked. My two in college are adults now, doing great at school and shouldn’t have significant debt so hopefully no more talk on that subject is needed… We may be playing the merit game again in a few years though. For me, It would be nice to see more objectivity and transparency when it’s a taxpayer-funded public university.
@illinoisx3 Ah…I understand the curiosity. I guess I am of the mindset that as long as the university 1. does its best to improve its standing within the academic and research communities, 2. provides a high quality educational experience, and 3. prepares graduates for post-graduation employment (yeah, I’m one of those who values job placement) I am satisfied as a taxpayer.
In my opinion the “ objectivity of merit awards” has too many variables. GPAs vary from high school to high school. A 4.0 UW from Payton College Prep, isn’t the same as a 4.0 UW from the local high school I would’ve attended (Roosevelt H.S.) in Chicago.
The prevalence of standardized testing instruction may unfairly favor students from affluent communities.
I do like the idea of transparency as to the number of Illinois residents who receive merit awards, the average amounts and perhaps some kind of demographic breakdown.
I was just thinking…Engineering has the highest stats within the university. So does that mean most of the merit award dollars should go to the Engineers or should attracting/retaining the ‘best and brightest’ apply to other majors in an attempt to raise the level/ranking/prestige of say an Education or Social Work major?
Personally I like the merit combined with need based model. And for straight merit, I think the scholarship money can be given out however the individual/company/college within the university, wants to grant it. But that’s just me and others probably feel differently and have their own good reasons, which I hope they’ll share.
My DD has those same stats and was offered the Presidential Elite at Alabama. She’s not interested in attending Alabama, and I’m disappointed that the UIUC AC who visited her high school made it sound like they were giving more scholarship money to high stats students. Nothing was said about tying the money to need.
@kmmord I hear you. Both my kids received nice offers from Minnesota and other schools. None made it lower in 4-year total cost than UIUC, though. One is at UMN-TC, one UIUC. Both are doing very well. Who knows, they may have come home after a semester at Alabama? Best of luck to your DD if she is currently deciding among offers!
@88jm19 Secrecy and subjectivity lead to things like the big admissions scandal at UIUC a few years ago. Definitely not satisfying to taxpayers, students or parents! Heck, if you don’t think pure merit is fair, athletic scholarships provide free rides for a lot more families. You could make those have a need component as well. Why should a flagship educational institution not be able to offer money only on academic measures to attract the best students but be free to do so only on athletic ones to lure the best athletes? If each department and team must publish their academic and need-based requirements, that’s fine with me. Could still leave more top IL students and athletes going OOS, though.
@illinoisx3 I think my point is 1. how do you define “pure merit”? and 2. how much do you think the merit award needs to be for those high stat students?
My perspective may differ from others for a couple of reasons. First, I attended Chicago Public Schools, K through 12. However, I now live and raised my children in an affluent Chicago suburb.
I also used to teach. I taught in Hinsdale and Houston. The different experiences have influenced how I view high stats and ECs.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I see GPA as a difficult comparable between schools. Yes, GPA has value. It’s an important measure of a student…within context. There are so many differences between schools when it comes to rigor, grade inflation/deflation, course offerings, etc. I struggle with defining “pure merit”.
Along the lines of pure merit, the university does award scholarship money to Chancellor‘s Scholars. Students receive $500 per semester. Dean’s List recognizes the top 20% based on GPA by college. And then there’s James Scholars and Bronze Tablet. The last three are honorary designations and I don’t believe come with a monetary award.
Both of my kids received some merit money. It was definitely not need-based. Both had very high GPAs but there must have been students with higher ones since they did not make Bronze Tablet. They did become very involved on campus, so obviously service and involvement must have contributed to their recognition. As the parent, I’m actually glad their merit award had some “secrecy”. Why? Because as a parent and former teacher, I like it when a person does something to a standard of excellence without the expectation of getting something in return…I hope that makes sense.
And FWIW, there is a list of Chancellor‘s Scholars so it would be possible to check names for suspected wrongdoing.
P.S. I’m sorry for ignoring athletic scholarships, but I have zero experience with it and don’t have a clue from where that funding comes. It has shocked me how much is spent on things like football scoreboards (I did live in Texas), but I thought if money is donated for a specific purpose or item then so be it. Regardless, I think the topic of athletic awards would be a separate thread from this one.
@kmmord things may have changed, but my DD received an academic scholarship over the summer, not with her acceptance as an EA (early admit). A person’s name was attached to the scholarship so I have no idea if it was given based on numerical stats or if it was in conjunction with my daughter’s high school ECs.
I think I’ve already discussed this. 1. Pure merit awards would not include non-academic or subjective factors. For example, some flagships, such as those mentioned earlier, have a simple chart of ACT/SAT vs. GPA for awards or they have you enter your data and show your merit award in their calculator. Clearly all the B1G and top tier public flagships know roughly who offers what. As I’ve stated, if their goal is to keep more top students from going OOS, then 2. even a few thousand per year from UIUC might tip the balance in cost and be nice recognition as well. Of course, it would vary with the applicant and what they might receive elsewhere in order to be competitive for top students in-state.
And yes, not everyone will qualify but again, it’s a top tier state flagship competing for students with other top tier research universities. There are many other state schools where admissions and merit awards may be given with lesser applications, however they are evaluated. Plus, there are plenty of awards based only on financial need or with need-based limits as well, including those I linked above.
That’s a good point. I understood that most university-wide scholarships were offered with admission or at least by regular admission notification time. Departmental awards may come later. For example, Engineering sent out a note in early January and the amount was sent in late February. ACES was a little later, if I recall correctly.
I completely disagree with “merit” tied to “need”. UIUC is seriously overpriced for residents, and that structure has distorted the OOS pricing structures. With the “merit” program, UIUC chose to privilege a very small group of students compared to the incoming class this year. It would have meant way more to me as a parent and taxpayer to see a modest one-time award, which is NOT ego-stroking, but rather recognition from the state and the university that they acknowledge the tuition distortion for residents, especially compared the flagships that ARE luring our students out-of-state, maybe never to return. Iowa and IU are prime examples. Those flagships are dirt cheap for their residents in comparison.
The AIM high scholarships are doing nothing to “retain” the students who are leaving…it’s not retaining the highly qualified students who do take the seemingly attractive scholarships from neighboring flagships. Those schools wouldn’t likely draw those in the top few percentages from Cook County and the collar counties, anyway. And students leave because discounted OOS tuition may be “close enough”, they feel slighted by UIUC and the general climate re tuition in this state, and they DON’T do their due diligence in drilling down and being a good consumer before making a decision.
Our flagship should be a great value to all of our residents. UIUC is expensive, and I take umbrage at the thought that average suburbanites need to be supplementing a college degree for those of lesser means. I personally have just about zero interest in that. In that light, AIM high is missing the mark; it’s not about retention, it’s another needs program, and it’s frustrating if not insulting to rank and file residents and their students.
@IL2023 I appreciate your viewpoint, but obviously we feel differently about this topic. I think it’s the responsibility of the student and the parents to be “good consumers”. If they truly feel a $15K automatic OOS award, which still makes the out of pocket cost of attendance higher than staying in-state, is better than attending U of I because they received zero merit $s, then in my opinion, so be it. It would be crazy to try to match offers. A degree from Iowa/Indiana/Missouri in many majors are not equivalent.
I also take issue with your statement:
Why? Because the AIM High program started this school year, 2019-20. We have no idea how it will affect retention. Personally I’d like to wait and see what the data shows in a few years.
Lastly, I believe some merit is given without a need-based component.
Yes, AIM High did just start this year, with my D23’s record-size class, and instead of equitably recognizing and encouraging highly-qualified residents to stay and continue their educations at their flagship, they just see that they really don’t have a flagship option and are ending up leaving the state. I’m all too well painfully aware of the calculus that goes into that analysis. And my students are there, livin’ the dream. We don’t need to wait to see that AIM High won’t do the trick to keep top students from our suburbs from leaving-the program applies to 5% of the incoming class, and how many students DON’T get an AIM High award because of income? Doesn’t take much to hit the income threshold. 375 or so students? That’s hardly half of one graduating class in alot of our schools.
Truth is that UIUC really isn’t doing anything re merit; AIM High is a need-tested program, so they aren’t retaining anyone in a meaningful way.
The OP’s question was where’s the merit money alluded to by the AC who visited her child’s school-and BTW, if it was Andy Borst, he is a phenomenal presenter; he’s genuine, credible, and answers your questions with veracity, if you’ve got the focus to ask for the right information. I’ve asked him my share of questions over the years. However, the truth of the matter is, that merit and qualifications that get resident students merit money in our neighboring states is just not to be had here in Illinois. Which is truly, truly unfortunate-Illinois isn’t a great place to live, work, raise your kids, and send them to college when there isn’t a meaningful flagship option for them. And getting a “merit” scholarship discount is a big part of that.
I hope that our neighboring flagships thank Illinois for making it easy to subsidize their residents.
To the OP, best advice is, drill down, do your numbers. Don’t use the “Estimated Cost of Attendance” tools; go the bursar’s page and figure it out. Research the OOS schools, their budgets, historical tuition increases, and the state’s education finances and funding, do your analysis, and then compare to UIUC, which, in a 1:1 comparison, will be hard to beat, given cost, outcomes, and ROI. However, make no mistake, in Illinois you’re going to pay disproportionately more for that flagship education than in competitor states. Alot more. And probably not get any sort of meaningful merit aid to mitigate the bill.