U. OF I. OKS TUITION HIKE

University of Illinois administrators voted Thursday to raise tuition costs for instate freshmen for the first time in six years.

Students at the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses will face a 1.8% increase, while first-year students in Springfield will have to pay 1% more. The base tuition for incoming freshmen in 2020 will jump to $12,254 in Urbana-Champaign, $10,776 in Chicago and $9,502.50 in Springfield.

The hike, approved at a Thursday meeting of the board of trustees, is the first for the University of Illinois System since 2014.

In addition, the board voted unanimously to give President Tim Killeen a 19% raise and extend his contract through 2024. Killeen, who will earn $835,000 a year, said the tuition increase will support a faculty hiring initiative.

“Faculty are the strength of our system, and these modest increases will help us meet our responsibility to maintain that strength, attracting more of the innovative educators and researchers that draw more and more students to our universities,” Killeen said in a statement.

Students in some graduate, professional and online programs at all three campuses will also see tuition costs rise by 2% or less, according to the new plan, which also includes increased fees and housing costs for students in Urbana-Champaign and Chicago.

In Urbana-Champaign, fees will rise $76 to $3,162 a year, and room-and-board costs will jump $394 to $11,168. Students in Chicago will see fees increase $32 to $3,340 and costs for housing and a meal plan rise $293, to $11,553 a year.