U of Illinois Has Record Breaking Freshman Class

[Wahoo Redux]

UIC reports record freshman class, growth in first-gen freshmen, Black students

The University of Illinois Chicago welcomed its largest incoming class this fall. In addition to gains among first-time freshmen, there are more first-generation freshmen and Black or African American students at UIC compared to last year.

UIC's undergraduate enrollment rose from 21,807 (2022) to 22,107 (2023), an increase of 1.4%. Incoming freshmen increased from 4,244 to 4,647 a jump of 9.5% over last year, according to the university's recently released 10-day enrollment numbers. The 2023 mark also surpasses the previous record mark of 4,407 set in 2019. The new class brings UIC's total student enrollment to 33,522.

Forty-six percent of the freshmen cohort (2,144 students) are the first in their families to attend college. This is an increase of 8.4% from 2022.

The number of Black or African American students grew 27.9% among new freshmen, 6.1% among undergraduates and 3.1% for the campus overall. 

So, what is going on here?

[downer]

Here are some options:
-There's an exceptional population increase of college age students in Chicago
- UIC has been doing much more advertising and outreach to local schools
- UIC has lowered its standards as a way to increase revenue

[marshwiggle]

Here are some options:
-There's an exceptional population increase of college age students in Chicago
- UIC has been doing much more advertising and outreach to local schools
- UIC has lowered its standards as a way to increase revenue

The number of Black or African American students grew 27.9% among new freshmen, 6.1% among undergraduates and 3.1% for the campus overall. 

For that big a change, it's virtually impossible to come from recruitment or population growth; some changed admission requirements have to be responsible.

[apl68]

I've noticed that all of our state colleges are reporting increases in enrollment this year as well.  Except for the recently-gutted Henderson State University, which is down by 15%.  That's still better than the 20% they predicted as a possible loss as they downsized.

With these increases happening in more than one state, I wonder whether perhaps a higher proportion of young people are starting to try college again.  As downer suggests, there may be some decline of standards going on as well, or perhaps these schools have somehow found a way to better persuade potential students to come.

[lightning]

Here are some options:
-There's an exceptional population increase of college age students in Chicago
- UIC has been doing much more advertising and outreach to local schools
- UIC has lowered its standards as a way to increase revenue

The number of Black or African American students grew 27.9% among new freshmen, 6.1% among undergraduates and 3.1% for the campus overall. 

For that big a change, it's virtually impossible to come from recruitment or population growth; some changed admission requirements have to be responsible.

Or maybe a Chicago-based public school is simply looking like the Chicago population.

[marshwiggle]

Here are some options:
-There's an exceptional population increase of college age students in Chicago
- UIC has been doing much more advertising and outreach to local schools
- UIC has lowered its standards as a way to increase revenue

The number of Black or African American students grew 27.9% among new freshmen, 6.1% among undergraduates and 3.1% for the campus overall. 

For that big a change, it's virtually impossible to come from recruitment or population growth; some changed admission requirements have to be responsible.

Or maybe a Chicago-based public school is simply looking like the Chicago population.

Unless the Chicago population also changed by that much in the same time interval, there has to de a difference in how students have been selected.

[Wahoo Redux]

I've noticed that all of our state colleges are reporting increases in enrollment this year as well.  Except for the recently-gutted Henderson State University, which is down by 15%.  That's still better than the 20% they predicted as a possible loss as they downsized.

With these increases happening in more than one state, I wonder whether perhaps a higher proportion of young people are starting to try college again.  As downer suggests, there may be some decline of standards going on as well, or perhaps these schools have somehow found a way to better persuade potential students to come.

Our big football flagship has also had a notable increase as many of the satellites, ours included, have decreases and as the overall student population in our state has dropped by 12% in the last decade.

That's what caught my eye with this article.

[Mobius]

Parents are getting sick of their kids hanging around not doing much, especially young men playing video games and watching porn all day (being glib, here).

[Anselm]

Work out the numbers and the number of African American freshman increased by 60 students, no big deal. 

Other possibilities:

They sent a few more recruiters out to local schools.

Hard times means more students attend a school close to home.

The school made more financial aid available.

[dismalist]

It's too early to get comprehensive enrollment numbers, but application numbers nationwide, as of March, were through the roof!

Share of everybody and his brother is up, too. Including especially foreign applications.

Standards became fluid, let us say. Only 5% of institutions required standardized test scores.

That's for 4-year institutions using Common Application, which is a substantial share of the 4-year population, so a good prognosticator.

Applications March 2023

I have an explanation: Covid ended. Back to trend.

[BadWolf]

1. There's a shift from private colleges to public state institutions. Many private schools are down, while public schools are up.

2. They "welcomed" the largest class ever. How many will still be there when census is done? By the end of the term? Since the class increased 9.5% percent, but the overall enrollment is only up 1.4%, they may have retention issues.

3. The 2023 Common Data Set is not yet available, but here's the data from the past 5 years.

Year	Applied	Admitted	% Admitted	Enrolled	% Yield
2023				4647
2022	23562	18541	79%	4244	23%
2021	22791	17960	79%	4177	23%
2020	22798	16558	73%	3541	21%
2019	22696	16528	73%	4407	27%
2018	21106	15945	76%	4159	26%

Without knowing the missing numbers, and the changes in net cost over those years, it's impossible to know the possible reasons for the increase. I think it's a combination of a shift to state schools and net price.