Many of Illinois' public universities are bucking a national trend of generally declining enrollment, welcoming larger freshmen classes to their campuses this fall.
Other universities with increases included the University of Illinois' flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign, the University of Illinois Springfield, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
The University of Illinois-Springfield's 19.8 percent increase in freshman enrollment — to 339 students — is probably a direct result of the school's Chicago-area marketing push and increases in scholarship money, according to Tim Barnett, the school's vice chancellor of student affairs.
Direct mail, email, billboards and radio spots are all being used to persuade students who might otherwise look outside of Illinois to come to the state capital, he said.
The Associated Press story was published on September 12, 2013.
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