Greater number of students leaving Illinois for college

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The state of Illinois is among the states leading the nation in the number of college freshmen pursuing higher education in other states.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education says between 2000 and 2014, the number of freshmen who left the state to attend college rose by about 64 percent. The mark was hit before the state's two-year budget impasse, which negatively impacted the finances of the state's colleges and universities.

Preliminary enrollment figures for the fall suggest the budget deadlock accelerated the trend, which has been fueled by a combination of state financial problems, population shifts and aggressive recruitment by competing states.

Only New Jersey, which also has had state budget woes, exceeded Illinois in loss of students to out-of-state schools.

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com