With more than 50,000 total students for the first time in university history, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has welcomed a record-breaking freshman class for the start of the 2019 academic year. The new freshman class is also the largest, most academically talented, and most diverse in the history of the university.
The class has the strongest academic profile of any prior class, with an average SAT of 1348 and a core academic GPA of 3.60. The freshman class is also the first ever to have an average ACT score over 29.
The Class of 2023 is also the most diverse class in history with 23.2 percent coming from underrepresented backgrounds, with increases in African American students and Latinx students, and a higher percentage of first-generation students at 24.7 percent. The 949 international students are more globally diverse, hailing from 40 countries, more than in previous years.
Class of 2023 by the numbers:
- 7,665 students
- 5,598 in-state residents
- 23.2 percent come from underrepresented backgrounds
- 24.7 percent identify as first-generation students
- Average ACT score: 29
- Average SAT score: 1348