The University announced several milestones in student enrollment Wednesday afternoon, including an all-time high for incoming freshmen.
The number of incoming freshmen this year totals 9,008, which makes up around 15% of the University’s record number of 59,238 enrolled students.
The incoming freshman class also has a high academic standing with an ACT average of 32.1 and a SAT average of 1440. These numbers stand higher compared to last year’s averages of 31.5 and 1418 respectively.
Approximately 71% of the incoming freshmen are from Illinois, with a representation from 85 out of 102 counties in the state.
There are also 1,346 freshmen from 43 other states, and 1,233 international students representing 48 countries, with the majority of them coming from China, India and South Korea.
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Out of all of the incoming students, over one in five enrollments are first-generation college students, making up approximately 22% of the freshman class. There were also 22% of students that were listed as being part of underrepresented groups including Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans.
Based on available data, there were 73,742 applications this year, compared to 67,398 applications in 2023. The male-to-female ratio stood at 50.4% male and 49.6% female.
As for transfer students, a total of 1,547 applicants were accepted, with 61% of them coming from in-state community colleges. Transfer students that come from out-of-state four-year universities also saw an increase with a total of 306 students.
