U Of I Starts Up Online Application

The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has launched its new online application early.

The News-Gazette reports Sunday that the online application was officially supposed to debut Sept. 1, but it went live ahead of schedule on Aug. 28.

The application includes a section where students fill in their own high school courses and grades. The campus will require an official transcript if a student decides to enroll.

University admissions director Stacey Kostell says the school created the online application to offer a better "user experience.'' She says the school hopes it will improve recruitment and increase the percent of students who accept University of Illinois admissions offers.

Students still have to provide all the same information the school collected before along with completing two essay questions.