Eastern Illinois University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University operates as a public institution located in Charleston, Illinois (town: remote), with a total reported enrollment of 4,188 students of which 8,274 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Eastern Illinois University is categorized as “18” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 65.3%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,000 and an ACT midpoint of 20. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $12,786, with published in-state tuition of $13,679 and a Pell grant recipient share of 29.4%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 46.4%, and the first-year retention rate is 71.7%. Graduates earn a median of $51,989 ten years after enrolling, compared with $42,694 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 476700.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 68.5% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.