Chambana Sun

In-state tuition and book costs for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will continue to be among the highest for schools in the Big 10 conference, despite the UI Board of Trustees' vote on Thursday to extend an in-state tuition freeze for the fifth-straight year.

The board's vote applies to in-state freshmen who enroll in the fall of 2019 at the University of Illinois campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago or Springfield.

Tim Killeen, president of the University of Illinois system, said the continuation of the university's efforts to make higher education costs more affordable has led to an enrollment increase of 7,420 students, or 9.4 percent. The idea is to cut out-migration of Illinois students to schools in other states, according to the university.

But data from the U.S. Department of Education, which includes basic in-state tuition plus book costs for Big 10 schools, shows that during the 2017-18 academic year, the Urbana-Champaign campus posted the second-highest costs: $16,274. That's second only to Penn State University, where the same costs were $20,276.

Only two schools in the conference have lowered these costs between the 2014-15 and the 2017-18 academic years: Indiana University and Purdue University, according to the U.S. Department of Education numbers.

During 2017-18, the in-state tuition and book costs to attend UI-Urbana-Champaign was 64 percent more than the costs to attend the University of Iowa, despite the continuing University of Illinois in-state tuition freeze.

For in-state undergraduates, base tuition alone at the three University of Illinois campuses stands at $12,036 per year for Urbana-Champaign; $10,584 for Chicago; and $9,405 for Springfield, according to a UI  news release.

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Which Big 10 Universities Charge the Most for In-State Tuition and Fees? 

College	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	% change over 3 years
Penn State University (State College)	$19,262	$19,354	$19,740	$20,276	5.3%
University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign)	$16,220	$16,254	$16,258	$16,274	0.3%
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)	$15,263	$15,481	$15,722	$15,988	4.8%
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)	$14,534	$14,904	$15,450	$15,874	9.2%
Michigan State University (East Lansing)	$14,260	$14,628	$15,138	$15,544	9.0%
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities)	$14,560	$14,790	$15,142	$15,417	5.9%
Ohio State University (Columbus)	$11,285	$11,271	$11,271	$11,760	4.2%
University of Wisconsin (Madison)	$11,610	$11,615	$11,688	$11,733	1.1%
University of Maryland (College Park)	$10,557	$11,126	$11,381	$11,649	10.3%
Indiana University (Bloomington)	$11,888	$11,618	$11,678	$11,567	-2.7%
Purdue University (West Lafayette)	$11,212	$11,222	$11,222	$11,152	-0.5%
University of Nebraska (Lincoln)	$9,120	$9,437	$9,549	$10,049	10.2%
University of Iowa (Iowa City)	$9,119	$9,344	$9,525	$9,915	8.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education