Illinois State University Data & Information Overview
Get the facts about Illinois State University. Learn how it ranks, what majors it offers, how diverse it is, and much more. Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you'll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
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How Well Is Illinois State University Ranked?

2021 Rankings
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Illinois State University was awarded 197 badges in the 2021 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is family, consumer and human sciences.
Overall Quality
Illinois State is ranked #331 out of 1,715 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2021 Best Colleges list.
Out of the 61 colleges in Illinois, Illinois State is ranked at #15.
See all of the rankings for Illinois State University.
Is It Hard to Get Into Illinois State?
Acceptance Rate
With an acceptance rate of 89%, Illinois State has a fairly liberal admissions policy. However, don't just assume you'll get in! Put together a good application and make sure you include all requested documents and materials.
Average Test Scores
Illinois State received ACT scores from 98% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 21 and 26.
Learn more about Illinois State University admissions.
Illinois State University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio at Illinois State University is about average at 18 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Illinois State University is 77%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Illinois State University
Freshmen Retention Rate
The freshmen retention rate of 81% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Illinois State University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That's certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Graduation Rate
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Illinois State the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 48%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Illinois State University.
Average Overall Diversity at Illinois State
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 18,107 undergraduates at Illinois State with 16,917 being full-time and 1,190 being part-time.
Illinois State Diversity Score
College Factual computes an overall diversity score for each college and university that takes gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and age into account. Schools with the best mixtures of students with respect to these factors are ranked the highest, and those that cater to just one or two student groups are ranked the lowest.
Illinois State scored 56.62 out of 100 for overall diversity. This is about average when compared to other colleges and universities in the United States.
Get more detailed information on diversity and student demographics at Illinois State University.
How Much Does Illinois State University Cost?
The overall average net price of Illinois State is $21,301. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for Illinois State
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$14,368 | $15,246 | $20,652 | $25,580 | $26,626 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Illinois State, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Illinois State, approximately 61% of students took out student loans averaging $7,729 a year. That adds up to $30,916 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Illinois State is 3.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Get more details about paying for Illinois State University.
How Much Money Do Illinois State Graduates Make?
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from Illinois State make about $47,100 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Illinois State graduates since it is 18% more than the average college graduate's salary of $39,802 per year.
See which majors at Illinois State University make the most money.
Location of Illinois State University
Illinois State University is a public institution located in Normal, Illinois. Illinois State is located in a safe and convenient suburb.Get more details about the location of Illinois State University.

Contact details for Illinois State are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | North And School Streets, Normal, IL 61790-1000 |
Phone: | 309-438-2111 |
Website: | illinoisstate.edu/ |
Facebook: | http://illinoisstate.edu/Facebook |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/IllinoisStateU |
Illinois State University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 70 majors graduated from Illinois State University. Of these students, 4,822 received undergraduate degrees and 802 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
Teacher Education Grade Specific | 396 | $37,600 |
Marketing | 291 | $42,500 |
Finance & Financial Management | 247 | $49,200 |
General Agriculture | 221 | $39,500 |
Accounting | 215 | $53,900 |
Communication & Media Studies | 198 | $33,100 |
Nursing | 180 | $62,500 |
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods | 168 | $41,900 |
Criminal Justice & Corrections | 153 | $31,000 |
Special Education | 152 | $42,600 |
Online Learning at Illinois State
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
In 2017-2018, 4,402 students took at least one online class at Illinois State University. This is an increase from the 3,793 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2017-2018 | 4,402 | 507 |
2016-2017 | 3,793 | 432 |
2015-2016 | 3,995 | 330 |
2014-2015 | 3,297 | 319 |
2013-2014 | 2,502 | 233 |
Learn more about online learning at Illinois State University.
Find Out More About Illinois State University
Notes and References
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Willjay under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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