Illinois public universities have fluctuating enrollment after difficult year - Dawn Rhodes and Kate Thayer, Chicago Tribune

Schools with more secure finances, including U. of I. and Illinois State University, fared well while other institutions felt the pain of students avoiding schools they perceived as being on shakier grounds. Illinois universities already had been grappling for years with an increasing number of students leaving the state for college, drawn by competitive financial aid packages elsewhere. Eastern Illinois University's enrollment is down nearly 13 percent from last year, for example. The freshman class declined by 25 percent, to 1,251 students. Most of the regional four-year universities had declines in undergraduate enrollment, including Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, which took one of the biggest hits. Total enrollment at the Carbondale campus fell about 7.6 percent, to just fewer than 16,000 students. The university has 2,126 freshmen — 660 fewer than last year or a nearly 24 percent drop. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-illinois-universities-enrollment-met-20160908-story.html