Eastern Illinois University

Eastern Illinois University is a public, state school located in the small town setting of Charleston, IL.

Founded in 1895, the institution currently enrolls around 7,806 students a year, including 6,229 undergrads. The institution runs on a semester academic calendar.

Eastern's endowment was valued at $87,002,141 in 2021. The school spends $18,276 for each full-time student enrolled.

2021 Admissions Facts About Eastern

Acceptance rate: 52%

Average GPA: 3.18

Does not offer early decision.

Doesn't offer early action.

Access ACT practice tests and study tips and see upcoming ACT test dates.

Eastern Acceptance Rate

Admission to Eastern is moderately difficult. Around 52 percent of all applicants are admitted to Eastern each year. Last year, 8,859 students applied to Eastern and 4,651 were admitted.

The average high school GPA for a student at Eastern is 3.18 out of 4.0.

Eastern reports that no students were waitlisted or admitted off the waitlist in 2021.

Is Eastern a good school?

The definition of a "good school" is different for different people. Acceptance rate and average GPA are good indicators of how competitive an institution is, but they don't say much about the quality of the education or the student experience.

Retention and graduation rates

Compare this to the average six-year graduation rate for colleges and universities in the U.S., which is around 61 percent for public schools and 67 percent for private.

Job outcomes and student debt

Job placement rates after graduation, average starting salaries, and the debt students graduate with can all give important clues about the value of a degree from a specific school. Within six months of graduating, 56 percent of graduates receive at least one full-time job offer.

Recent grads have an average starting salary of $43,689 a year. Students in the class of 2021 who had taken out student loans graduated with an average of $29,483 of debt. For context, compare this number with the average national debt, which is around $36,000 per borrower.

Based on this information, how does Eastern sound? Remember, the best school for one person may not be the right school for someone else! So the real question to ask yourself: is Eastern a good school for YOU?

Is Eastern Illinois University on your list?

Click the heart icon at the top of this page to save Eastern to your own personal list of colleges.

Read on to find out more about the admissions requirements and deadlines, student life, academics, majors and more.

Still researching colleges?

See what others say about Eastern in the College Confidential forums and get personalized recommendations for other schools that might be perfect for you.

See a list of other colleges in IL and use the college admissions predictor to calculate your chances of getting into some of the top colleges and universities in the U.S.