DeKALB – Gov. JB Pritzker, in collaboration with the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, launched a program Aug. 19 which will automatically enroll students in public Illinois universities as long as they meet the minimum GPA requirement of the university.
One Click College Admit is a program that has been designed for Illinois students to stay in state by having them continue their education after high school in the state’s public institutions.
The program started with the class of 2026 during their college admission process. Students must create a Common App account as well as submit their GPA and basic biographical information.
Students no longer need to submit admission essays, pay application fees or acquire letters of recommendation to attend college.
In addition to the class of 2026, the class of 2027 and students currently in community college are eligible for the program. Students in the class of 2027 will have to submit an online form that sees them as eligible for direct admissions offers in the fall of their senior year.
Community college students will be eligible for this program in January by filling out a form to gain their consent for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to match their GPA and the 30 required transferable credit hours for direct admission.
The program was created with the intention of giving first generation college students and parents an easier time with college applications, as well as to bolster Illinois education as a whole.
“This program marks another step in my administration’s steadfast effort to make Illinois the best state in the nation to receive an accessible, high-quality education — one that sets students of all backgrounds up for lifelong success,” Pritzker said in a press release.
Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Services and Director of Admissions Recruitment and Outreach Mayra Lagunas said the effectiveness of the program will be determined by how universities administer it.
“Initiatives like this ultimately intend to serve students and the responsibility to administer them appropriately and ethically falls on the universities,” Lagunas said.
