Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) statistics point to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) as the state’s fastest growing public institution over the past two decades.
Data show the school has experienced a 26.8 percent growth in total enrollment from 1996 to 2016.
“SIUE’s consistent and steady growth over the past 20 years can be attributed to the ever-evolving nature of this campus and the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area,” Scott Belobrajdic, SIUE's associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, said in a release. “In the mid-1990s, we added residence halls and began the transition to a primarily residential campus.”
Over the past decade, other primary attractions have seen the university add the School of Pharmacy, move to NCAA Division I athletics and expand the School of Engineering.
“In more recent years, the opening of the new $80-million science building in 2012, offering in-state tuition to Missouri residents, and an increasing commitment to merit and need-based scholarships pushed SIUE to record enrollment in 2014," Belobrajdic added. “Most recently, the addition of hundreds of solely online and non-traditional students and the development of a robust honors program have supported enrollment stability.”
More recently, SIUE has also expanded its geographic reach, with enrollment from among metropolitan Chicago area students tripling from 546 students in 1996 to nearly 1,500 students by the fall of 2016.
Rounding out the state’s top five fastest-growing universities over the same 20-year timeframe are the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (20.8 percent increase), University of Illinois Chicago (16.8), Illinois State University (6.7) and Northeastern Illinois University (-5.0).
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