More than 21,500 Redbirds are on campus this fall, continuing the multiyear trend of strong enrollment at Illinois State University.
“Thousands of students continue to choose an Illinois State education because of the breadth and quality of our academic programs, and the supportive community they find here,” said Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule.
“We are confident in our ability to build on that foundation and serve students well in preparing them for the careers of the future as their needs and expectations continue to evolve.”
The University saw a 7% increase in transfer students and the largest incoming Honors class in Illinois State history. Here’s a deeper dive into this year’s incoming class.
Most-common hometown: Chicago, followed by Naperville
Farthest U.S. hometown from campus: San Ramon, California
Farthest international home country from campus: Pakistan
Youngest, newest undergraduate: 17 years old
Oldest, newest undergraduate: 73 years old
Top 10 majors
Exploratory (undeclared)
Elementary education
Nursing prelicensure
Business administration
Psychology
Finance
Criminal justice sciences
Early childhood education
Financial accounting
Special education
Favorite things*
Beyond the numbers.* Within the incoming class, a student:
Won the Iowa State Fair fiddle competition
Runs a sub-five-minute mile
Speaks 15 languages
Knows Pi to 200 digits
Can name every winner of the TV show Survivor in order in under a minute
Can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in 5.32 seconds
Knows the lyrics to every Monkees song
Has performed at Carnegie Hall
Is a ventriloquist
Top reasons students picked Illinois State**
Affordability and financial aid
Variety of majors available
Strong academic reputation
Vibrant student life
Appealing campus and surrounding community
*Responses to “just for fun” questions on application for admission.
**Responses to admitted student questionnaire.
This content is sourced from
Illinois State University
. It reflects the author's views and has not been edited by our newsroom. It may have been generated using AI assistance.
