Student-Faculty Ratio
19:1
Full-Time Student Population
18,494
Part-Time Student Population
2,690
Full-Time Instructional Faculty
882
Part-Time Instructional Faculty
323
Faculty with Terminal Degree
84%
Average Faculty Salary
$70,928
Full-Time Retention Rate
85%
Part-Time Retention Rate
75%
Programs/Majors Offered
85
Academic/Career Counseling?
Yes
Class Sizes
- Fewer than 20 students: 31%
- 20 to 49 students: 57%
- 50 or more students: 12%
Instructional Programs
Occupational:
NoAcademic:
YesContinuing Professional:
YesRecreational/Avocational:
NoAdult Basic Remedial:
NoSecondary (High School):
NoSpecial Credit Opportunities
Advanced Placement (AP) Credits:
YesDual Credit:
YesLife Experience Credits:
NoUndergraduate Schools/Divisions
- College of Applied Science and Technology
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Business
- College of Education
- College of Fine Arts
- Mennonite College of Nursing
Degrees Awarded
- Bachelor's degree
- Doctorate - Professional practice
- Doctorate - Research/scholarship
- Master's degree
- Post-bachelor's certificate
- Post-master's certificate
Most Popular Majors
- Business Administration and Management: 2%
- Elementary Education: 3%
- Finance, General: 2%
- Marketing/Marketing Management, General: 2%
Graduation Requirements
- Arts/fine arts
- Computer literacy
- English (including composition)
- History
- Humanities
- Mathematics
- Philosophy
- Sciences (biological or physical)
- Social science
Special Study Options
- Distance learning opportunities
- Study abroad
- Teacher certification (below the postsecondary level)
Other Academic Offerings
- Accelerated program
- Cooperative education program
- Double major
- Dual enrollment
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- Exchange student program (domestic)
- Honors program
- Independent study
- Internships
- Student-designed major
Online Courses
Online courses vary by subject at Illinois State University. Numerous general education classes can be taken online. But just because a class is online does not necessarily mean that it's easier. Some professors provide video lectures while others ask students to read books. Papers and timed tests can be submitted online with ease. The only problem may be forming a relationship with your instructor; this can be difficult when it comes to needing help with the subject matter.
Best Places to Study
- Bone Student Center
- ISU quad
- Milner Library
Tips to Succeed
- Become close with the professors in your major.
- Become friends with people in your classes.
- Become friends with your roommate.
- Carpool with others that live close to home.
- Don't be shy-be yourself.
- Don't just study for tests the night before!
- Eat breakfast before going to class.
- Get an internship during your junior year.
- Go to class.
- Go to professors' office hours or e-mail them whenever you need help.
- Hang out at Watterson Food Court during freshman year.
- Hang out on the quad.
- If you get a job, work on campus.
- Join clubs that relate to your desired career.
- Learn the bus schedule and don't be afraid to take the bus when you need to.
- Read before class-even lecture classes.
- Spread out general education courses throughout your four years in college.
- Talk to your adviser whenever you are unsure of a class.
- Tempting as it may be, don't go out every night. Freshman year GPAs are hard to raise.
Did You Know?
- ISU is the second-largest degree producer of teacher education candidates in the nation.
- Students who are tired of walking to class now have the option of taking certain classes online.
- One of the ways students can practice their farming skills is with ISU's 360-acre farm in nearby Lexington.
- ISU was originally named Illinois State Normal University and was for teachers only.
- The Department of Communication has recently been named the School of Communication.
- Student organization TV-10 is constantly in the running for a variety of broadcasting awards.
- ISU's forensics (speech and debate) team has won the national championship two times in the last five years.
- "The Innocence Project," created by ISU, is a documentary about people sitting on death row who have been wrongly accused of crimes. The project was created after ISU assistant professor of communication John McHale produced a documentary that helped release Joe Amrine, a convicted murderer from death row.
- Illinois State placed 79th in the 2008 BusinessWeek magazine rankings of the best undergraduate business schools in the nation.