The number of Illinois students at MU has steadily increased every year for the past few years.
There are 3,977 total undergrads from Illinois at MU, Christian Basi, associate director of the MU News Bureau, said in an email. In the fall 2012 class, there are approximately 1,020 freshmen from the Chicago area alone, he said.
In order to secure all these Illinois students, MU has two full-time admissions representatives in Chicago, Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Ann Korschgen said in an email. One position started in 2003 and the other in 2007.
“One travels north Chicago and the other south, visiting high schools, meeting and talking with students, and attending college fairs throughout the year,” Basi said. “We also have specific recruitment mailings that we do to the Chicago market.”
When the second recruiter started in Chicago in 2007, there were 1,731 Illinois students attending MU in total, according to the MU registrar. At the start of fall 2012 there were a total of 4,286 students from Illinois enrolled at MU.
Along with these recruiters, staff members at the admissions and enrollment offices have reached out to many Chicago area high schools to talk to students and promote MU.
“We have placed highly effective staff members there who made Chicago-area students (and also the guidance counselors) aware of the wonderful opportunities that are offered at Mizzou,” Korschgen said.
Recruiters tend to encourage Illinois students to compare costs between MU and Illinois schools, like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to assist them in making their college decisions. Since the University of Illinois rarely gives out merit-based scholarships, MU might cost less for many Illinois students.
Cost is not the only benefit MU recruiters pitch to Illinois students. They also focus on the opportunities MU has to offer that out-of-state students might find attractive.
Korshcgen said these opportunities include “excellent faculty members, a beautiful campus, a wide array of academic majors, outstanding student facilities, new residence halls and a campus within easy driving distance for Illinois students.”
Alexa Tovsen, a freshman journalism student from Chicago, said she chose MU for its journalism school.
“It’s warmer than Illinois, and it’s cheaper than the other schools I looked at,” Tovsen said. “But my No. 1 motivator was the strong journalism school here at Mizzou.”
Illinois students major in many different degree programs at MU, but journalism enrollment is the highest of all majors by a small margin, Basi said.
“In looking at all of the undergraduate students from Illinois, journalism just beats business for the most majors,” he said. “Currently there are 575 Illinois students majoring in journalism areas and 500 majoring in business areas.”
Korschgen said Illinois students bring “geographic diversity, new perspectives, and different food tastes (i.e. Chicago style deep-dish pizza).”
As for future recruiting in the Chicago area, Korschgen said, “We will always welcome high ability, motivated students to Mizzou.”