Eastern Illinois University Overview
Eastern Illinois University is a public institution located in Charleston, Illinois. The charming, small-town atmosphere of Charleston draws many to the area.
What Is Eastern Illinois University Known For?
- Although it may not be available for every major, the post-master's certificate is the highest award a student can attain at EIU.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 79% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, EIU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $42,200 a year. That's about 3% more than their peers at other schools.
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Eastern Illinois University Rankings
Out of the 98 colleges in Illinois, EIU is ranked at #20.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
EIU has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#170 | Most Popular Online Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at EIU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards EIU has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Value Colleges for Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | College Factual |
#4 | Best Value Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#5 | Best Colleges for General Family & Consumer Sciences | College Factual |
#17 | Best Colleges for Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | College Factual |
#60 | Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies | College Factual |
#118 | Best Nursing Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
Where Is Eastern Illinois University?

Contact details for EIU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 600 Lincoln Avenue, Charleston, IL 61920 |
Phone: | 217-581-5000 |
Website: | https://www.eiu.edu/ |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/iameiu |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/eiu |
How Do I Get Into EIU?
You can apply to EIU online at: https://www.eiu.edu/myeiu/index.php?type=signup
Admission Requirements for EIU
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into EIU?
Approximately 39% of accepted students are men and 61% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 47%, and the acceptance rate for women is 55%.
Average Test Scores
About 0% of students accepted to EIU submitted their SAT scores.EIU received ACT scores from 97% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 17 and 23. Math scores were between 16 and 23. Composite scores were between 18 and 23.
Can I Afford Eastern Illinois University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At EIU, approximately 69% of students took out student loans averaging $6,087 a year. That adds up to $24,348 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at EIU is 7.2%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.
Eastern Illinois University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 1,577 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,990 full-time undergraduates at EIU, 41% are male and 59% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Eastern Illinois University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 50 |
Black or African American | 939 |
Hispanic or Latino | 352 |
White | 2,294 |
International Students | 118 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 237 |
Geographic Diversity
Illinois students aren't the only ones who study at Eastern Illinois University. At this time, 21 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 53 countries are represented at EIU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and Nigeria.
Online Learning at Eastern Illinois University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at EIU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 17th most popular in Illinois for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of EIU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Eastern Illinois University was 19.9%. This is the #895 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at EIU regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of EIU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services | 15% |
Fine & Studio Arts | 5% |
General Psychology | 10% |
Gerontology | 27% |
History | 3% |
History | 3% |
Music | 24% |
Nursing | 17% |
Psychology | 12% |
Public Relations & Advertising | 5% |
Visual & Performing Arts | 11% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at EIU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at EIU.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Urban & Regional Planning | #1 | |
Communication Sciences | #5 | |
Architecture & Related Services | #5 | |
Fine & Studio Arts | #6 | |
Gerontology | #6 | |
Music | #8 | |
History | #14 | |
Political Science & Government | #14 | |
History | #14 | |
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies | #17 | |
Writing Studies | #20 | |
Visual & Performing Arts | #28 | |
Communication & Media Studies | #28 | |
English Language & Literature | #31 | |
Communication & Journalism | #44 | |
Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies | #47 | |
General Psychology | #47 | |
Social Sciences | #48 | |
Special Education | #49 | |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #54 | |
Psychology | #67 | |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #79 | |
Liberal Arts General Studies | #115 | |
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | #115 | |
Nursing | #167 | |
Education | #204 | |
Business Administration & Management | #252 | |
Health Professions | #280 | |
Business, Management & Marketing | #321 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Eastern Illinois University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Nyttend under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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