Chancellor Rita Cheng said in her Sept. 5 State of the University Address that SIU’s ACT average is better than the state average.

“The average high school class rank among this year’s freshmen is up compared to both 2011 and 2010, as is the average GPA,” she said.

Cheng said in her speech the average high school GPA score of new on-campus students was 2.77 in 2010, 2.81 in 2011 and 2.85 in 2011.

While SIUC’s GPA and ACT scores are up compared to years’ past, as well as just above the state averages, SIUC has lower scores than other state institutions.

Representatives from both SIUC and Eastern Illinois University said the universities take a holistic approach for freshman admittance and thus examine more than just high school GPA and ACT scores.