University of Illinois approves whopping $8.3B budget for student affordability, academic excellence

The university has approved a 6.2% more budget as compared to the last year to improve students' affordability, academic excellence, and student support.

Study in US: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois has approved an $8.3 billion operating budget for this fiscal year, which is up by 6.2% as against last year. The budget is assigned to strengthen academic excellence, student support and affordability.

U of I System President Tim Killeen said, “The University of Illinois System and our three universities are contributing to the state economy on a number of levels, and we are partnering with government, industry and the nonprofit sector to enhance our efforts to the benefit of every Illinois citizen. We are committed to providing a world-class education to state residents.”

University of Illinois reports record student enrollment this fall

For this fall semester, the university has reported yet another record of student enrollment. The systemwide number stood at 97,772 students enrolled in the University of Chicago, Urbana-Champaign and Springfield. The university's priority while meeting the student body's needs is on increasing faculty, improving programs, and providing mental health resources. Other priorities include facility upgrades and technological improvements across three campuses.

"The U of I System has frozen resident base undergraduate tuition in seven of the past 10 years and also increased financial aid by more than $108 million in the past decade to its current level of $283 million a year. Two-thirds of system undergraduate students receive financial aid and more than half of undergraduates pay tuition of less than $3,000 per semester," reads the official statement.

University of Illinois: More Updates

The following actions were taken in the Board meeting:

• University of Illinois Chicago appointed Thomas J. Royston as interim vice chancellor for innovation. He is currently a professor of industrial and mechanical engineering and a professor and department head in biomedical engineering.
• The university appointed John Coumbe-Lilley as interim director of intercollegiate athletics at the university.
• Omolola Eniola-Adefeso has been appointed as the dean of the College of Engineering at UIC. Eniola-Adefeso is currently associate dean for graduate and professional education, professor of macromolecular science and engineering, university diversity and social transformation professor, professor of chemical engineering, and professor of biomedical engineering.

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