UIUC & Purdue University -- Research Notes
uiuc_purdue.md
UIUC & Purdue University -- Research Notes
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Admissions Overview
- Overall acceptance rate: 42% (Class of 2028, from 73,742 applicants)
- Trending down: from 63% in 2020 to 42% in 2024; record applicants for Fall 2025
- Early Action: offered (Nov 1 deadline), no separate published EA rate
- No ED offered
- Testing policy: test-optional; 41% submitted SAT, 14% submitted ACT
Academic Profile
- SAT middle 50%: 1390-1520
- ACT middle 50%: 30-34
- Average unweighted GPA: 3.71 (middle 50%: 3.65-4.0)
- Top 10% of HS class: 59%
- Freshman class size: ~8,500
CS/Engineering Selectivity
- CS acceptance rate: ~6.7% (top-5 nationally ranked program)
- CS+X programs: ~18.5% acceptance rate
- Engineering overall: 20-30% acceptance rate
- This makes UIUC CS comparable to Ivy-level selectivity while the overall university is moderately selective
Yield
- Yield rate: 27.4% (Class of 2024, lowest in recent years)
Demographics (College Scorecard)
| Group |
Pct |
| White |
39% |
| Asian |
23% |
| Hispanic |
14% |
| International |
14% |
| Black |
6% |
| Multiracial |
4% |
| Women |
49% |
Net Cost by Income (College Scorecard)
| Income Bracket |
Net Price |
| $0-30K |
$3,883 |
| $30K-48K |
$5,955 |
| $48K-75K |
$10,065 |
| $75K-110K |
$20,205 |
| $110K+ |
$28,358 |
Illinois Commitment program covers tuition for qualifying in-state families.
Athletics
- Division: NCAA Division I (Big Ten)
- Total athletes: 650 (354 men, 296 women)
- Sports: 21 varsity (10 men's, 11 women's)
- Athlete pct: ~1.8% of undergrads
Simulation Notes
- Category:
flagship_public
- The dramatically lower CS acceptance rate (~7%) vs overall (~42%) is a key characteristic. For the simulation, using the overall rate is appropriate since we model university-level admissions, but the notable field flags this.
- Strong in-state bias (71% of freshmen are Illinois residents)
- Very generous financial aid for low-income students ($3,883 net cost for <$30K)
Purdue University
Admissions Overview
- Overall acceptance rate: 49% (Class of 2028, from 78,745 applicants)
- Fall 2025 projected: ~43% on ~87K applicants
- Early Action rate: ~54% vs Regular Decision ~46%
- No ED offered
- Testing policy: test-required (97% submit scores)
Academic Profile
- SAT middle 50%: 1210-1470
- ACT middle 50%: 27-34
- Average unweighted GPA: 3.76 (average SAT 1337 for Fall 2024)
- Top 10% of HS class: ~50%
- Freshman class size: ~11,000
Engineering Selectivity
- Engineering acceptance rate: 34.7% (SAT 1380-1520, GPA 3.89-4.00)
- Much more selective than university overall for engineering and CS
Yield
- Yield rate: 29.1% (Fall 2024, highest since Common App adoption; historically 25-27%)
- Unexpectedly high yield led to overcrowding, triggering more restrictive future admissions
Demographics (College Scorecard)
| Group |
Pct |
| White |
59% |
| Asian |
14% |
| International |
10% |
| Hispanic |
7% |
| Multiracial |
5% |
| Black |
3% |
| Women |
47% |
Net Cost by Income (College Scorecard)
| Income Bracket |
Net Price |
| $0-30K |
$4,927 |
| $30K-48K |
$5,925 |
| $48K-75K |
$8,948 |
| $75K-110K |
$18,919 |
| $110K+ |
$21,130 |
Purdue froze tuition in 2012-13 and has maintained it since.
Athletics
- Division: NCAA Division I (Big Ten)
- Total athletes: 633 (374 men, 259 women)
- Sports: 18 varsity programs
- Athlete pct: ~1.4% of undergrads
Simulation Notes
- Category:
flagship_public
- Test-required (unlike most peers) -- 97% submit standardized test scores
- Engineering is significantly more selective (35%) than overall (49%)
- Tuition freeze since 2012-13 makes Purdue very cost-competitive; net price for lowest income bracket is only $4,927
- In-state admission rate 71% vs out-of-state 39% -- strong in-state preference
- Large class size (11K) makes it one of the biggest freshman classes nationally
Sources
- UIUC Admissions: admissions.illinois.edu
- Purdue Admissions: admissions.purdue.edu
- College Scorecard API: api.data.gov/ed/collegescorecard
- CollegeFactual, CollegeSimply, CollegeTuitionCompare
- Purdue Newsroom (2024 Q3 enrollment records)
- UIUC Daily Illini (record applicant numbers)