Illinois public universities have reached their highest enrollment levels in 10 years, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education [IBHE] that reports nearly 190,000 students are enrolled across the state for the Fall 2025 semester.
Illinois State University’s student body increased by 2.1%, an enrollment record for a fourth consecutive year. ISU announced the figures in September, including a 448-student increase, for a total of 21,994 students.
Across the state, seven other universities are seeing an upward trend in student enrollment.
Deputy Governor for Education Martin Torres said Gov. JB Pritzker’s state budgets have delivered the largest investment in higher education in a generation.
“We have the fifth consecutive year of growth in freshman, undergraduate enrollment increased by 3.8%. This is really the culmination of years of effort by the Pritzker administration to make our schools more affordable and more attractive to Illinois students,” Torres said. “Since that time, we’ve increased funding for public universities by more than $230 million.”
The state also has increased funding for financial aid by $320 million and drawn more federal Pell grants. Torres said Illinois ranks in the top five states for FAFSA completion.
Advocates at schools like ISU have long yearned to change the formula of higher education funding in Illinois, preferring a per-student basis instead of a lump sum. Torres said the governor’s office is aware of the proposal.
“The governor’s office hasn’t taken a position on it, we look forward to a conversation about it,” he said. “I think the governor’s demonstrated a willingness and the ability to work with the general assembly to get dollars appropriated for public universities. I would expect that to continue.”
Like ISU, several other universities have seen improvements in enrollment. According to the IBHE’s First Look-Fall Enrollment release, the state saw 2.3% more, or 4,214 students, come to public universities.
Specific gains include growth among undergraduates and minority students, particularly African American and Latino students, who statistically face more difficulty with graduation and retention rates.
“Ever since the [U.S.] Supreme Court decision that changed how universities should be managing affirmative action, we’ve been aggressively working with institutions behind the scenes," said Torres. "One to make sure that they don’t kind of regress in their efforts to support every student population that they’re enrolling, but to really try and invigorate the way that they are supporting these students.”
Still, not every university saw enrollment gains. Eastern Illinois University [EIU], Governors State University, the University of Illinois-Springfield and Western Illinois University saw declines.
Each of those institutions saw a drastic decrease in international students, most of whom were counting on earning graduate degrees. Torres blames the Trump administration.
“EIU for example ... that institution has done good things. They have good leadership, but the federal government has made it harder for universities across the nation to enroll students,” he said. “The Trump administration is really abandoning their responsibility to our state. They’re withholding visas for students; they’re spewing anti-immigrant rhetoric and they’re kind of not making the country a welcoming place for students internationally.”
Torres also thinks the Trump administration is failing American students with its continued pursuit of dismantling the Department of Education [DOE].
“They’re failing students from birth through post-secondary,” said Torres. “They’re framing the dismantlement of the [DOE] as a source of efficiency, but in reality, if you’re a state education agency, you’re now having to shift from working with one federal agency to multiple federal agencies.
“And various offices that used to be in the U.S. [DOE] are now going to be in federal agencies whose main priority is not the education of American students. So, we see this as a net negative for states across the country.”
In response, he said, Illinois is looking to create stability for students through investments and strategies in higher education. One program is the Direct Admissions Program that notifies high school students opted in on which public universities they are automatically accepted to based on their GPA.
Another loss of the DOE is the ability to enforce federal education laws. DOE would be responsible for ensuring public universities are in compliance with upcoming ADA requirements, as they are classified as government bodies.
Without the DOE, the state may have to step up to enforce the laws, said Torres, adding it's another example of how the Trump administration is failing students — "…In this case, students who have an IEP.
"States, and frankly, families rely on the federal government to provide oversight on school districts and how they’re managing federal responsibilities that students are entitled to,” he said. “You’re going to see significant lags in responsiveness to the needs of American families, and that’s a choice.”
