How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale admits 86.9% of applicants, making it one of the more accessible public universities in Illinois. Among enrolled undergraduates, 38.8% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — a profile that reflects the university's deep roots in serving students from working-class and rural backgrounds across southern Illinois. Transfer enrollment accounts for 42.4% of the student body, a meaningful share that signals Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's role as a destination for students continuing their education after community college. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #380 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility picture reflects both the institution's broad access and the challenges that come with serving a high-need population. The six-year graduation rate is 62.4%, with 48.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a figure worth watching given the large share of students from lower-income backgrounds. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $49,700 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 72.1 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #176 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's Illinois data analysis, the gap between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver for mobility and what its admission volume and completion rates actually produce is the structural lens that shapes this ranking — and for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, expanding completion rates among its large Pell-eligible cohort remains the clearest lever for strengthening that position.
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale admits 86.9% of applicants, making it one of the more accessible public universities in Illinois. Among enrolled undergraduates, 38.8% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — a profile that reflects the university's deep roots in serving students from working-class and rural backgrounds across southern Illinois. Transfer enrollment accounts for 42.4% of the student body, a meaningful share that signals Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's role as a destination for students continuing their education after community college. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #380 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility picture reflects both the institution's broad access and the challenges that come with serving a high-need population. The six-year graduation rate is 62.4%, with 48.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a figure worth watching given the large share of students from lower-income backgrounds. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $49,700 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 72.1 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #176 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in , the gap between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver for mobility and what its admission volume and completion rates actually produce is the structural lens that shapes this ranking — and for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, expanding completion rates among its large Pell-eligible cohort remains the clearest lever for strengthening that position.
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale admits 86.9% of applicants, making it one of the more accessible public universities in Illinois. Among enrolled undergraduates, 38.8% receive Pell Grants and 35.3% are first-generation college students — a profile that reflects the university's deep roots in serving students from working-class and rural backgrounds across southern Illinois. Transfer enrollment accounts for 42.4% of the student body, a meaningful share that signals Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's role as a destination for students continuing their education after community college. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #380 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility picture reflects both the institution's broad access and the challenges that come with serving a high-need population. The six-year graduation rate is 62.4%, with 48.5% of Pell-eligible students completing within that window — a figure worth watching given the large share of students from lower-income backgrounds. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $49,700 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 72.1 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Southern Illinois University-Carbondale #176 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. As explored in Azimuth's Illinois data analysis, the gap between what an institution's outcomes show it could deliver for mobility and what its admission volume and completion rates actually produce is the structural lens that shapes this ranking — and for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, expanding completion rates among its large Pell-eligible cohort remains the clearest lever for strengthening that position.
