A public R1 research university in Champaign-Urbana, IL, admitting 42.37% of applicants with top-ranked CS and engineering programs.
Champaign, Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public R1 research university in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, founded in 1867. It enrolls 36,258 undergraduates and 22,098 graduate students across sixteen colleges and schools, including the Grainger College of Engineering, the Gies College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Education.
Engineering, computer science, business, and biological sciences account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees. UIUC holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). UIUC is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Illinois residents from families earning up to $61,000 per year may qualify for the Illinois Commitment, which covers tuition and fees with no loans required.
Official website: illinois.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), UIUC scores 89.21 overall, rated Strong. Value scores 93.59, driven by strong ten-year earnings of $81,054 relative to an average net price of $14,355. Outcomes (93.49) reflects an 85.13% six-year graduation rate and a 90.69% rate of graduates earning above the high school median at ten years. Affordability scores 51.23. All scores use verified federal data only.
UIUC admits 42.37% of applicants overall, with acceptance rates varying significantly by program. UIUC is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,440 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 30 and 34. UIUC uses the Common App with supplemental essays. The priority deadline for most programs is November 1; the final deadline is December 1.
Applicants apply directly to a specific college or to the Liberal Arts and Sciences undecided option. The Siebel School of Computing (computer science) and the Grainger College of Engineering are substantially more competitive than the overall admit rate suggests; effective CS acceptance rates are well below the institutional average.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
For Illinois residents, UIUC charges $16,004 in tuition plus an estimated $13,508 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $31,000 before aid. For out-of-state students, tuition is $35,124, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $50,000 before aid. The average net price across all enrolled students is $14,355. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $2,038, reflecting the impact of the Illinois Commitment program.
For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $5,373. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $15,152. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $28,761. The Illinois Commitment provides full tuition and fees with no loan requirement for qualifying Illinois residents from families earning up to $61,000; the $2,038 average net price for the lowest income bracket reflects this program.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $50 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
UIUC completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 85.13% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 79.70%, and first-year retention stands at 94.57%. UIUC's federal loan rate of 27.38% and median debt of $19,500 are higher than at schools with more robust need-based aid programs but reflect the mix of Illinois residents (lower cost) and out-of-state students (higher cost).
UIUC graduates earn above the national median for public research universities. Median earnings are $64,802 six years after first enrolling and $81,054 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 90.69% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate.
The earnings reflect UIUC's heavy concentration in engineering, computer science, and business, fields that command above-market starting salaries in technology, finance, and consulting. Grainger engineering and Siebel CS graduates, particularly those in software engineering and electrical engineering, are among the most recruited from any public university in the country. Gies College of Business graduates go predominantly into accounting, finance, and consulting.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
UIUC enrolls 36,258 undergraduates in Champaign-Urbana, a twin-city college town of approximately 130,000 in central Illinois. Asian students account for 23.11% of undergraduates; white 37.53%, Hispanic 14.41%, and Black 5.31%. Twenty-three percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 24.93% are first-generation college students, both above average for major research universities. The Illinois Commitment program and active support for first-generation students contribute to UIUC's economic diversity relative to its peer group. UIUC alumni have founded or co-founded major technology companies including YouTube, PayPal, Yelp, and others; the Silicon Valley alumni network for Grainger and Siebel graduates is extensive.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers an extensive catalog of programs: 266 distinct programs across 27 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
UIUC operates at a 20:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 72.76% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $14,929 per year, reflecting the large enrollment base. The endowment stands at $2.61 billion. UIUC's research output includes the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA, birthplace of the Mosaic web browser), and one of the largest university library systems in the world. The Grainger College of Engineering is consistently ranked among the top three engineering schools at any public university in the country.
2,498 instructional faculty across 6 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 845 | 34% | $172,150 |
| Associate Professors | 587 | 23% | $119,598 |
| Assistant Professors | 764 | 31% | $105,129 |
| Instructors | 96 | 4% | $84,742 |
| Lecturers | 176 | 7% | $72,642 |
| No Rank | 30 | 1% | $57,836 |
UIUC's defining strengths are its CS and engineering programs (top-ranked nationally), Value score of 93.59 (excellent ROI given the public tuition), ten-year earnings of $81,054, and the Illinois Commitment providing essentially free attendance for lower-income Illinois residents. UCD 89.21 Strong.
The trade-offs: the 42.37% overall admit rate is misleading for engineering and CS applicants, who face much higher competition; the 27.38% federal loan rate and $19,500 median debt are higher than at better-funded publics; Champaign-Urbana is a college town without a major metropolitan job market on-campus; and out-of-state students face $35,124 in tuition. Best fit for Illinois residents targeting engineering, computer science, business, or agricultural sciences who can benefit from the Illinois Commitment; and out-of-state students who specifically target UIUC's nationally ranked programs.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about UIUC: how competitive CS and engineering admissions are, what the Illinois Commitment covers, how UIUC compares to Michigan and Georgia Tech, and what graduates earn.
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