College-Bound Illinoisans Head For The Hills (Of Alabama)

College-Bound Illinoisans Head For The Hills (Of Alabama)

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The number of college-bound high school seniors in Illinois who leave the state to pursue their higher education has increased by 73 percent since the year 2000, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education and a recent report in the Chicago Tribune.

In the last few years, many of them are choosing the University of Alabama, which offers much more generous financial perks than the University of Illinois. The number of Illinois students attending U of A was 147 a decade ago. Now, it’s 1,623. In fact, Illinois is now the number four feeder state for the university in Tuscaloosa after the three Southern states of Georgia, Texas and Florida.

Morning Shift talks to Tribune higher education reporter Dawn Rhodes about why some of Illinois’s best and brightest are leaving the state.