CHARLESTON, Ill. — An Illinois university is taking aggressive measures to recruit new high school students to its campus.
Eastern Illinois University announced Thursday that it will open its application process next week for the fall 2018 semester and waive its $30 application fee for incoming freshman and transfer students until Oct. 2, The News-Gazette reported.
Josh Norman, the university’s associate vice president for enrollment management, said research indicates the most successful schools are those that act early in the application process. Norman said public universities in Indiana that implemented the early application process last year saw success.
“It really is a data-based decision,” Norman said. “As we look at the retention of students who come in through the enrollment cycle, those students who apply early are the students who have the highest graduation retention rates.”
Eastern Illinois University has seen a slide in enrollment over the last nine years, during which its total number of students has dropped from more than 12,000 in 2007 to more than 7,000 in 2016.
University admissions director Kelly Miller said last year the university opened the application process in July and waived the application fee for two weeks, while in years past they began accepting applications in late August.
