The University of Illinois reports all time high enrollment, with more than 59,000 students taking classes at the Urbana campus.
Of that number, more than 9,000 are freshman, said university officials.
System wide more than 97,000 students are enrolled at campuses in Urbana, Springfield, and Chicago, said officials.
The largest class in university history shows that U of I is a special place to learn, grow, explore and succeed, said administrators.
The university also welcomed 1,547 transfer students, said university representatives.
Of those, 61% transferred from an Illinois community colleges.