UIUC scraps plan to take more out-of-state students

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
1

<p>U of I reverses course on out-of-state enrollment
By Jodi S. Cohen
Tribune higher education reporter
Published May 15, 2006, 10:16 PM CDT </p>

<p>Responding to a public outcry, University of Illinois officials on Monday scrapped a plan that would have made it harder for Illinois students to get into the state's premier public university. </p>

<p>The university was hit with threats of legislative hearings and complaints from angry students, parents and alumni after announcing plans to gradually increase out-of-state and international enrollment to 15 percent, from 10 percent, as part of a larger plan to make the Urbana-Champaign campus more elite. </p>

<p>The university's chancellor, Richard Herman, had told guidance counselors last Tuesday that the change, part of a wide-ranging strategic plan for the campus, was intended to increase the diversity of the undergraduate student body and improve education for all students. </p>

<p>The plan was described in the Tribune Wednesday. In the ensuing days, and especially during commencement activities over the weekend, administrators were deluged with complaints from university board members, Illinois lawmakers and future college students and their families. </p>

<p>Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal responded to the uproar Monday by placing a half-page advertisement in the Tribune that read: "Attention Illinois Students! Illinois State University—Illinois' first public university—WANTS YOU." </p>

<p>U. of I. officials announced their retreat in a written statement after meetings on Monday, and just before two state legislators called for public hearings on the matter. </p>

<p>"The public reaction is so strong and so negative that I think that it is hurting more than a slight increase in non-resident enrollment can possibly help us," the university's president, B. Joseph White, said in an interview with the Tribune. "We are a public institution, and trust and confidence in us are really important. It sure is not worth damaging that trust and confidence over a small matter like this." </p>

<p>White said the campus will go ahead with plans to gradually decrease the number of freshmen to 6,500 from about 7,500, in order to make class sizes smaller. They also are aiming to attract more students from the top 10 percent of their high school classes. About 47 percent of this year's freshman class graduated in the top 10 percent, down from 55 percent in 2001. The strategic plan calls for increasing that number to 75 percent. </p>

<p>At the meeting last week, several guidance counselors argued that it already is difficult to get into the university, which gets about three times as many applicants as there are spaces available. </p>

<p>The counselors pointed out that neighboring Midwest states have more than one flagship campus, which gives their students more in-state options for college, along with the cheaper tuition that state schools offer to their residents. For example, Indiana has Purdue and Indiana Universities, and Michigan has the University of Michigan and Michigan State. </p>

<p>Illinois has 12 public university campuses, but none has the reputation of the University of Illinois, leaving many students vying to get into a single school, counselors said. </p>

<p>University officials argued that they look out for Illinois' students, noting that the university has the smallest percentage of non-resident students of any Big 10 university. Seven of the public universities draw more than 25 percent of their students from other states. </p>

<p>Amy Thompson, president of the Illinois School Counselor Association, said she's pleased that university administrators changed their minds. </p>

<p>"Given the situation in Illinois with how many high school graduates we have here who are highly qualified, I am really happy they are going to continue to serve as many of the Illinois students as they can," said Thompson, a counselor at York Community High School in Elmhurst. "I understand their desire to have more diversity on campus, but given our situation, I don't think it's a realistic goal at this time anyway." </p>

<p>Shortly before the university announced the change Monday afternoon, state Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) and state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) held a news conference to introduce a resolution calling for a task force and hearings to examine the university's admissions plans. </p>

<p>Silverstein, who had spoken with White earlier Monday, said he was happy that university officials reversed their plans. He said he will put on hold any discussion of legislative action. </p>

<p>"I am glad they saw the light and students win," Silverstein said. "I still want us to talk to the University of Illinois to make sure they follow through with the decision." </p>

<p>Howard Weisbart, 55, of Highland Park, said that although he graduated from the university, he won't donate money to it because he thinks it already has become too selective. His three children did not apply to the U. of I. because they didn't think they would get in, he said. </p>

<p>"The fact that (school officials) decided not to increase the numbers certainly shows they are responsive to public opinion, which is a good thing," said Weisbart, who earned undergraduate and dental school degrees from the university. "If you start increasing the number of out-of-state students at the expense of not as many in-state students, somebody will not get in who would have. It did feel like that was unfair." </p>

<p>U. of I. spokeswoman Robin Kaler said it will still be difficult to get accepted to the university. </p>

<p>"People shouldn't expect it to be easy to get into the University of Illinois. It is still very selective and very hard to get into," she said. </p>

<p>While the campus' recent strategic plan does not set a specific goal for the number of out-of-state students, White had referred to a goal of 15 percent in a speech and in interviews earlier this year. </p>

<p>White, who has been president since February 2005, said he does not worry that changing course will make it seem like he can be easily influenced by public reaction. </p>

<p>"When the principle or policy warrants it, we will always stand up and do what is right for the University of Illinois," White said. "If I thought that changing this direction would seriously impede our ability to remain a great university, we wouldn't be changing the direction." </p>

<p><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060515illini,1,2366443.story%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060515illini,1,2366443.story&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Original story: <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-0605100192may10,1,5122190.story%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-0605100192may10,1,5122190.story&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>Meh...5% increase actually isn't that much. But the point is that, not that many people would have come from out of state anyways considering how much OOS tuition costs. If they wanted this plan to succeed in the first place, they should also be offering OOS'ers lower tuition or more financial aid.</p>

3

<p>"Howard Weisbart, 55, of Highland Park, said that although he graduated from the university, he won't donate money to it because he thinks it already has become too selective."</p>

<p>does he expect them to admit everybody?</p>

4

<p>I think offering OOS students easier admissions would be incentive enough for rich kids to come, if their alternative is paying OOS tuition at a school like Purdue or Iowa anyway, e.g. Wisconsin and Michigan residents who can't get into their state schools.</p>

5

<p>high OOS tuition does not attract rich kids, it deters everybody else. so yeah by having tuition at 24 grand plus fees they are asking for rich kids, but it has nothing to do with admissions difficulty.</p>

6

<p>it wouldn't be "easier" for OOS students to get into the university, rather more of these qualified students would be considered and admitted. by enrolling more highly qualified students, the university would increase their prestige. what's wrong with that? if in-state students are angry, then they should work harder in high school to get grades that enable them to get into the U of I. </p>

<p>that quote from the guy in HP is ridiculous. whyyyyy would anyone be angry that their school is getting better and better?? it doesn't make any sense. as if that guy is so important!</p>

7

<p>I agree completely GT3000. If your school is trying to achieve a better reputation academically, i think you should supprt them.</p>

8

<p>HP is a suburb filled with children of wealth and i'm sure they feel that simply being born in HP makes them more worthy of a spot than some
"down state" kid.</p>

9

<p>that's pretty much true, Transfer. I used to work in HP and the surrounding suburbs for years!!</p>

<p>one more thing i think people are confused about-- the price of tuition for OOS students. OOS students likely WILL pay a higher tuition pricetag if it means they are going to receive a high-caliber education (not to mention all the other benefits UIUC has to offer). Before people start reacting to this news negatively, they should try to understand both sides.</p>

10

<p>I am concerned and disappointed about this move by the state. I would like for the U of I (UC) to be a more selective university and be mentioned in the same breadth with the other top public universities, eg, Michigan, Berkeley, Virginia. I believe that Michigan and Virginia have 30%+ of their student population from oos and that has allowed them to attract some very high quality students which has lifted the overall quality of the student body (and this undoubtedly is part of the reason that they are ranked in the 20s and U of I is in the 40s). </p>

<p>Why can't we make UIUC as elite as Northwestern? I understand the politicians want to keep as much space open for their constituents, but shouldn't they have a little more vision and try to raise the standard of the school?? Also, does anyone know what % of UIUC's budget is provided for by the state?</p>

<p>I grew up in Chicagoland, attended UIUC and and now live in the east where everyone is mega-focused on colleges in general and Ivies in particular. It frustrates me that no one here knows a thing about UIUC because it is a very good school. While I have no illusions about UIUC being compared to the Ivies, I sure would like to see it ranked more favorably against the other top public universities and Northwestern. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to improve the academic profile and reptutation of UIUC so that it is more than just a strong regional university?</p>

11

<p>Hawette, while the merits of the argument supporting UI becoming more elite are debatable, I do agree that the KEY is going to be the OOS students/marketing. However, my school (Wisc) has hundreds of chicagoland kids per year and that is mirrored in the make up of the Michigan UG body (if someone has specific #s, post em) so it might also help to start keeping the brightest students who leave the state for other big ten elites.</p>

<p>One problem Illinois has when compared to Michigan and Wisconsin is the location of the school. Ann Arbor and Madison are "cool" college towns, with a lot of action and fun things going on. It's not that UI is boring, far from it, but kids from NY/Cali/NJ who are highly represented at Michigan and Wisconsin are going to need serious convincing to attend a school where one might smell the cows if the wind is blowing right :) (at least, that is what I smelled the first time I walked across UI's campus)</p>

<p>edit- let me also add that I am a double legacy @ Illinois so I have had extensive discussion with my parents on this very subject and they agree the location of the school will make it inherently difficult to raise its profile, except that like the engineering school, a great school will be able to overcome that.</p>

12

<p>Re location: What about Cornell? It's in Ithaca which, like Chambana, is in the middle of nowhere, only with hills & lakes!</p>

<p>I think people who do a little research into engineering schools discover how highly regarded UIUC is in that field.</p>

13

<p>'ya know, in general I believe that kids from Illinois are simply a lot smarter than most other states. Look at our education system, it's not too shabby if I do say so myself. Pretty darn good in my opinion. OOS from other states like say NY or Calif. would actually probably like to go to their own state's "flagship school". If we get a bunch of OOS'ers from say..Idaho who are not that smart, than we are actually lowering the bar instead of raising it.</p>

14

<p>I live in California, and will be going to U of I in the fall. you cant just make a stereotype and say that IL students are smarter than Idaho students... thats stupid.</p>

15

<p>Yeah, that's a bad argument tennisfan. The point of admission standards are to PREVENT that. A bad Idaho student wouldn't have that chance to lower the school.</p>

<p>As for mommusic, the problem is that Cornell has ALREADY defined international prestige as an IVY LEAGUE school. Further, my argument would be that the TYPE of kid who comes into the midwest, or leaves their state for another public school, are the type who would demand more from a school than what UI offers. Not all, yes, but even Chicagoland kids who I am friends with in Madison talk about how different it is from the UI campus.</p>

<p>Further, you are right about people who do the research, the problem is that you might have something REALLY good, but w/o the proper PR, it will be less known.</p>

16

<p>I think they haven’t really scrapped the plan to take more OOS students. OOS population for 2007 freshmen were 12%, a whopping 2% increase. I really would like to see my school up there in the top 30’s along with schools like Michigan :)</p>

17

<p>and its ranking improved to 38 this year.. hope that it is going up up.. I was once told that around 10 years ago.. it was harder to get into engineering at Illinois as international students..than getting into Duke..i know this person who got rejected ffrom Illinois for his undergrad so he went to Duke and came to Illinois as a grad students.. he said Illinois is much stronger in engineering.. and the reason that it was hard to get it caused Illinois to be a better choice than Duke for him… but that was ten years ago</p>

<p>i think by making the university very selective actually make the university very appealing and worthed of comming… I have been told by many friends that decided to go to Columbia engineering or duke engineering instead of Illinois that they would have choosen to come to Illinois because it is better in engineering but the fact that is much easier to get in makes it not appealing.. I think what the university should be doing now is decrease the admission rate and the class size.. I think Illinois has the capability to have the same ranking and reputation as michigan (12 nobel prize winners VS none)</p>

18

<p>lol, that’s because UofI’s engineering program is ranked 3rd in the nation.</p>

<p>It’s irritating when people <em>only</em> correlate selectivity to overall academic strength at an institution.</p>

19

<p>Besides make the university more selective, maybe a more personal undergraduate.</p>