Around 170 southern Illinois high school and community college students attended the Salute to Illinois Scholars, a college fair and luncheon, to connect with admissions and academic staff from around the state, including the University System, Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois Universities at Carbondale and Edwardsville.

Julian Parrott, assistant vice president of academic affairs, said the University wants to keep high school students from leaving the state of Illinois.

“We want to combat out-migration because we know that we have excellent opportunities in higher-ed in the state of Illinois,” he said.

Parrott said by recruiting the students from Illinois, there is a higher chance they will stay in Illinois after graduation. More students with degrees add to Illinois’ rich cultural and economic life, he said.

“Our universities offer different things,” Parrott said. “It’s not necessarily that we are in direct competition with each other, but we want to make sure that our students have opportunities to see the showcases in terms of recruitment that each of the universities are offering.”

Parrott said a similar event will take place next week in Rockford with Western Illinois, Northern Illinois and Governors State Universities. This will be the first event to take place in the northwest region of Illinois, he said.

Students who attended the event are encouraged to apply to each of the participating schools and will have their application fees waived.

Tim Killeen, president of the University System, said the event is especially important because the southern Illinois region has seen lower enrollment in the three University of Illinois schools, in a press release.

“Students now have the opportunity to come in and not only just talk to the University of Illinois universities but more to some other universities that want these students to stay in state of Illinois and join our student bodies,” Parrott said.

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