Chicago Business Daily

Are Chicago residents discriminated against when applying to a university inside of Chicago?

I recently read that when a person lives inside of Chicago, he or she has a reduced chance of being accepted to a university that exists inside of Chicago. In other words, a person who has been a resident of Chicago, has fewer chances than a person who lives in the greater Chicagoland area. And the further out from Chicago a person goes in the state of Illinois, the more chances a person has of attending a university in Chicago. Does anyone know if these statements are true? I think they might be, because universities can only hold so many students; and the Chicagoland area has a huge amount of possible future students.

Public Comments

1. Public, possibly. Private, no. Any big city runs like this (I know all too well being a Miami resident trying to get into UM) but the key is to find the place best suitable for your wallet. State universities are your best bet (hit up FASFA the moment you get accepted) and go easy on the student loans. The economy sucks right now and there's no point watching the interest rates of your loans skyrocket if you don't get a job. Best of luck, dude.
2. of course, you don't want too many people from the same area to go to a school.. just like most big universities won't let you get your master's or phd at that school if you got your undergraduate there. they want fresh people in there from different places with different experiences.
3. No, not really. A school inside of the city will of course have many students from Chicago. At UIC, a bit less than half of the students come from Cook County. There is only one school which discriminates against Chicago area students, and that is SIUE's health care programs.