CHAMPAIGN – The University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign has more incoming students this year than can fit in its dorms.
So, UIUC is offering $2,000 – plus 100 meal tickets – to returning students to move off campus.
“We hope the compensation helps put students in a better financial position to secure other living arrangements within the campus district,” UIUC director of messaging Allison Vance said in an email.
Vance said that the university has given out cancellation incentives before, but it has not needed to in recent years.
According to Vance, delays in the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, pushed back the university’s usual admission and financial aid cycle. That meant University Housing had to adjust its normal process.
In addition to timing changes, more students wanted to go to UIUC than expected. Vance said the university had initial concerns that some families might choose not to enroll—either due to financial aid challenges or because they were worried about the impacts of the Supreme Court striking down race-based affirmative action. (A previous affirmative action ban in California did deter Black and Latino students from applying to schools where they were in smaller minorities.)
Vance said that an unusual number of students decided to attend UIUC, particularly from out of state. Then fewer students changed their minds and withdrew their acceptance than normal. That larger class size and shorter summer decision period prompted the housing department to turn to cancellation incentives for returning students and those not required to live on campus.
“Unfortunately, these adjustments have caused some confusion and inconvenience, but University Housing will continue to provide the same transformative student support experience we currently provide,” Vance said.
Emily Hays is a reporter for Illinois Public Media.