Macomb, IL: Visiting colleges is one of the bestways to decide where to go. Western Illinois University (WIU) was the firstIllinois public university, and and one of a few nationwide to freeze rates forall entering undergraduates for four years of continuous enrollment.

Thetuition for one year is $3,200 (in-state) and $7,800 (out-of-state). For a doubledorm room it's $3,100, and for a single room it's $4,200, and the board is$2,200.

WIU offers 52 undergraduate programs with a variety of majorsfrom agriculture to zoology and many in between. Incoming freshmen should have anACT score of 28 and need to be ranked in the top 15 percent of their graduatingclass. Western offers plenty of scholarships, too: they gave out $1.4 million in2000.

If you are interested in Western, check out their web site atwiu.edu. There you'll find all the information you need and upcoming news.There's even a virtual tour.

Ideally, you'll visit the campus and take areal-life tour, followed by meetings with information about the college.Sometimes prospective students have interviews with teachers and otherstudents.

WIU also has a variety of athletics, including football,volleyball, soccer, softball, cross country, basketball, baseball, tennis,swimming, golf and track/field. Western also allows fraternities andsororities.

I recommend WIU for its great education and reasonable price,which is lower than many schools.

Reviewed in 2004