The University’s Senate Executive Committee held a meeting on Monday to discuss potential modifications to the honorary degree program, the 2025-26 school year’s record enrollment and a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the University Board of Trustees.
Angela Lyons, professor in ACES and SEC chair, called the meeting to order at 3:11 p.m. and then gave her remarks. Chancellor Charles Isbell Jr. was scheduled to deliver remarks next, but Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for strategic communications and marketing, said he would not be in attendance.
Next to speak was Bill Bernhard, executive vice provost for academic affairs, who said the chancellor was away on business at Birmingham University.
Bernhard named a few updates in University news, including the recent complaint filed against the University’s Board of Trustees that undocumented students were receiving in-state tuition.
DOJ complaint
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On Sept. 2, the DOJ filed a complaint in the Southern District of Illinois against the University’s Board of Trustees, also naming Gov. JB Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and trustee boards at other Illinois institutions as defendants.
“The complaint challenges Illinois laws that offer in-state tuition and scholarships to undocumented students who reside in our state,” Bernhard said.
University Admissions estimated undergraduate tuition for the 2025-26 school year to be between $18,046 and $23,426 for Illinois residents, and $38,398 and $46,498 for out-of-state students. Last year, in-state tuition and fees for undergraduate students were $16,004, while out-of-state tuition was $35,124. The costs listed do not account for possible financial aid.
University applicants who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible for in-state tuition provided they meet the list of criteria detailed on the UI system website.
Bernhard continued by stating that Illinois is the fifth state to have this kind of federal challenge, following similar complaints against Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Kentucky.
“University counsel is currently reviewing the situation in collaboration with counsel of (the) other defendants and formulating some different strategies,” Bernhard said. He said more information is likely to become available in the coming weeks, after which the University will determine how to proceed.
Honorary degree program committee
In December 2024, the University Senate publicly and controversially denied Shahid Khan, University alum and billionaire, an honorary degree.
In January, the SEC revisited the topic to come up with a new system. Now, an ad hoc committee for honorary degrees is in the process of being formed.
“Regardless of how we might feel about particular candidates, none of us wants a process that risks publicly embarrassing someone who’s been nominated,” Lyons said. “That situation doesn’t help any of us, and it’s reasonable that we want to have a better procedure and a better process.”
The committee will be made up of student representatives and faculty members from multiple departments. The group’s members and the senate body they will report to are not yet finalized.
“Nothing is decided on,” Lyons said. “We have a committee here that is going to review the process. We all want to do better and we don’t want a repeat in the future of what has happened in some of the past cases. And so we should be thoughtful in this process.”
Record enrollment
The other update Bernhard announced was that Monday marked the tenth day of the semester; by tradition, final enrollment numbers would be released. Two days later, the University announced its record-breaking freshman class size of 9,207, with total enrollment topping 60,000 for the first time in University history.
Bernhard said that, while statistics would likely raise questions about international student enrollment following uncertainty surrounding student visas earlier this year, current numbers remain on par with historical trends.
“With everything that happened in the spring and the summer, I can share that we had … consistent international enrollment from previous years,” Bernhard said.
Bernhard shared that on Friday, he asked Daniel Mann, associate provost for enrollment management, about whether international students were “facing challenges” in obtaining student visas.
“(Mann) indicated that the situation this year is consistent with previous years, that he did not see any sort of extraordinary hurdles,” Bernhard said.
The enrollment report stated the 2025-26 freshman class includes 1,410 international students representing 62 countries — 14 of which were not represented last year.
“There will be a few students who experience challenges, but that’s common,” Bernhard said. “We have been very thoughtful over the past decade or so in thinking about how we can strategically and mindfully plan for a foreign enrollment. We will continue to do the right thing to support the students, both from an infrastructural service standpoint, and in terms of making sure our faculty have the resources and numbers to continue to deliver that excellent classroom instruction.”
The full University Senate will convene on Monday in Room A at the Illini Union.
