U of Illinois accepts more in-state students for fall 2015

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has increased the number of in-state residents being accepted for fall 2015, a school spokeswoman said.

The school accepted 22,267 applicants for the fall, up from the more than 20,040 who were accepted last year. Spokeswoman Robin Kaler said Illinois residents were a "substantial" portion of the 11 percent increase, The News-Gazette reported (http://bit.ly/1A6ffu9 ). About 71 percent of this year's freshman class is from Illinois, down from nearly 90 percent a decade ago.

Meanwhile, fewer students have been applying to Illinois. The school says it received 34,119 applications for the fall. That is 4 percent less than the 35,695 applications last year.

Cost could be a factor, Kaler said. Base tuition at the Urbana-Champaign campus this year is $12,036.

"We're not the least expensive school. That's a challenge for some people," Kaler said. "They don't realize what they hear as the advertised tuition rate is not necessarily what they would pay, so they self-select."

This year for the first time the university let all high school seniors know their admission status at one time - 4 p.m. last Friday. The school's website saw a brief slowdown at the time, said Charles Tucker, vice provost for undergraduate education and innovation.

"The website was a little slow responding to people for about 10 minutes, soon after 4 o'clock when the big surge came," Tucker said. "But it stayed up and provided people with their decision. We were really pleased with how things went."

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com