Every year come August, Champaign-Urbana experiences a population explosion when University of Illinois students return for the fall semester.
Add a record number of freshmen to that mix, and the campus was hopping as classes started.
Roughly 7,600 freshmen enrolled in the University this fall, the most for any individual class in Illinois history. That shattered the record set by the Class of 2008, which entered with approximately 7,250 students.
The University actually offered admission to fewer students this year compared to years past, but a higher percentage of them accepted the invitation and enrolled, according to Associate Provost Keith Marshall.
"Admissions is just as much art as it is science," Marshall says. "You make a number of offers of admissions based on your best guess on how many will accept admissions."
In the past, Marshall says, about 50 to 51 percent of students offered admission chose to come to Illinois, and would show up and enroll. But this year, that number increased by 5 to 6 percent.
The two colleges that saw the largest jump in enrollment were the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Business. Although LAS had targeted a class of 3,800, roughly 4,200 freshmen accepted and matriculated.
To prepare for the larger group, the college hired extra academic advisors to work with students during the summer advising period. LAS does not limit access to its degree programs by establishing a set number of slots for majors, so students will not be limited in their choice of career path.
In the short term, according to Ann Mester, assistant dean, the college also has added sections for high-demand or required courses in fields such as rhetoric, biology, chemistry, political science, and math.
"It's kind of an embarrassment of riches," says Mary Macmanus Ramsbottom, LAS associate dean for student academic affairs.
While there is no one reason for the bump in interest, Marshall pointed to a variety of factors that may have contributed to the increase. The essay on last year's application was a little more involved than in years past, which may have discouraged some of the more casual applicants and produced a pool of more committed candidates. The success of the men's basketball program and the publicity and exposure it generated for the University last winter cannot be overlooked.
"Some may have chosen Illinois because of that," Marshall says. "We'll never actually know what caused people to come to Illinois. We just like to think that the students saw that Urbana was the place to be this fall."
Marshall also says that the University used an aggressive approach during last year's admissions period to court specific cohorts of students to ensure a diverse and distinguished class. Alumni volunteers phoned high-achieving students to encourage them to enroll at the University of Illinois. Current undergraduates were hired to contact all out-of-state applicants and applicants from underrepresented groups, offering them an opportunity to ask questions.
The University also expanded its use of technology in the process by communicating with students via email on a regular basis and allowing the applicants to accept admission online.
"There are people all around the country who would kill to have this problem," Marshall says. "It just shows that this is a place that students value the quality of the education and the affordability of the education."
