University of Illinois system freezes in-state tuition at all 3 of its campuses for 2024-25 school year

Tuition and fees for all three University of Illinois campuses will remain frozen for in-state undergraduate students in the upcoming school year.

The Board of Trustees approved tuition rates for the 2024-25 academic year Thursday. Rates will remain unchanged for the seventh year of the last 10 years, the school said in a press release.

"I want to thank our trustees for their vote to freeze tuition for in-state undergraduates again," University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen said. "This decision maintains our ironclad commitment to affordability. Few things we can do have a more positive impact on the working families of Illinois than holding down the cost of a life-changing college education."

Base tuition for in-state undergraduates will remain $12,712 a year at the Urbana-Champaign campus; $11,178 a year at the Chicago campus; and $321.50 per credit hour in Springfield, the school said.

The board’s decision will also freeze total fees at all three universities for the first time in more than 25 years, the school said. However, room and board rates increased by 5% at the Chicago and Urbana-Champaign campuses and by 1.4% at the Springfield campus.

Tuition rates for nonresident undergraduate students will increase between 1.7% and 2% at Chicago and Urbana-Champaign but will remain the same in Springfield.

The system also provides more than $283 million in financial aid each year, an increase of $108 million in the past decade. the system said. Combined with state and federal aid, financial assistance enables more than a third of undergraduates to pay no tuition or fees.

More than 67% of all Illinois undergraduate students enrolled across the U of I System receive some form of financial aid, and more than half pay less than $3,000 per semester, the university said.