Champaign, IL
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was founded in 1867 as a land-grant institution and serves as the flagship campus of the University of Illinois System. It is organized into multiple colleges and schools spanning engineering, business, and the liberal arts, and its faculty and alumni have been affiliated with 25 Nobel Prizes and 31 Pulitzer Prizes. The university describes itself as a pre-eminent public research university continuing a land-grant mission of research, teaching, and public engagement.
Admissions
Test scores for the Fall 2025 entering class come from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own 2025-26 Common Data Set: 43% submitted SAT scores, 14% submitted ACT scores.
Application deadlines for Fall 2027 entry
- Early Action: Nov 1, 2026
- Regular Decision: Jan 5, 2027
Confirm on University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own admissions site before you apply.
Cost & outcomes
Out-of-state students pay $22,676 more per year in tuition and fees (2.4x the in-state rate).
Base rate. Engineering, computer science, business and several other majors pay more. The rate is locked for four years.
Tuition & fees are University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own published 2026-27 rates (source); other figures are from the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, most recent year reported. Tuition & fees are the sticker price for a full-time first-year undergrad, before financial aid, and don't include room and board.
Where do you stand against University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's numbers?
Check your chances hereHow University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign weighs your application
From University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own Common Data Set, 2025-26, Section C7 -- not a generic admissions checklist. What is a Common Data Set?
What applicants who posted their results listed
114 self-reported applicant profiles from public posts, 2024–25 and 2025–26 admissions cycles: 61 admitted, 53 rejected or waitlisted. Figures read admitted vs. rejected or waitlisted.
Most common activities
Most common awards among admits
Who posted
The full breakdown, with what stood out: UIUC Accepted vs. Rejected Applicants →
These are people who chose to post their results publicly, mostly on Reddit -- a group that skews toward high scores and STEM. They describe posters, not University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's admitted class, and recruited athletes are left out. For official numbers, use the admissions figures above.
See full profile -- financial aid, campus life, and what University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign weighs in your application
Paying it back
"Still growing" means a borrower's payments aren't yet covering interest 3 years into repayment -- not a default rate. A high number here can mean real repayment difficulty, or just a lot of grads who deferred for graduate school, so read it alongside the school's typical outcomes above.
Majors & earnings
Median earnings 4 years after graduation, by major, from the US Dept of Education. Only shown where the school reports a real figure for that major -- most schools don't report every major they offer, especially smaller programs.
Campus life
Room and board are shown separately from the cost of attendance above -- that total already includes them alongside tuition and fees, this just breaks out the living-cost portion.
What matters in your application
From this school's own reporting to the US Dept of Education on what it formally requires, considers, or doesn't use when reviewing applications.
Frequently asked questions
What does University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign look for in applicants?
Per University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own Common Data Set (Section C7), it rates talent/ability, character/personal qualities, first generation, rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, extracurricular activities as "very important" in admissions decisions -- its own stated top factors, not a generic guess.
What is University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's acceptance rate?
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, IL admits approximately 42% of applicants, based on the US Dept of Education's most recently reported figures.
What SAT score do I need for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign?
Per University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's own 2025-26 Common Data Set, the middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored 1390–1520 on the SAT (25th–75th percentile, among students who submitted scores).
What ACT score do I need for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign?
Admitted students at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign typically score between 30–34 on the ACT (25th–75th percentile).
How much does University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign cost?
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's total cost of attendance is reported at $33,642 per year, including tuition, fees, and room and board.
What is out-of-state tuition at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign?
For 2026-27, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's tuition and required fees are $39,358 for out-of-state students and $16,682 for in-state students -- $22,676 more per year for out-of-state students. That's before financial aid, and room and board are extra.
When is the application deadline for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign?
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's deadlines are Early Action Nov 1, 2026; Regular Decision Jan 5, 2027, per its own published admissions calendar.
Does University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign require students to live on campus?
Yes -- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign requires students to live in on-campus housing.
Related reading
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