Freshman Enrollment Drops At U Of I

Freshman enrollment at the University of Illinois's flagship campus is down this semester by 5.4 percent from a year ago, according to the school.  

The freshman class enrolled this fall at the Urbana-Champaign campus has 6,937 students. That's down from 7,331 in the fall of 2013. The record high was 7,583 in 2005.  

The university didn't provide a reason for the drop but noted without details the percentage of students who are accepted to the university is down. That's become an ongoing problem at the university as the cost of attendance has risen. A year at the university including housing now costs more than $20,000.  

Of the freshmen enrolled this fall, 4,297 are from Illinois, according to the release. The class includes 1,061 foreign students. The largest group is from China, with 658 students.