and international students account for 19% of enrollment. SIUE offers in-state tuition for undergraduate students from all 50 states. The university offers numerous extracurricular activities to its students, including athletics, honor societies, student clubs and organizations, as well as fraternities and sororities. The university has more than 115,000 alumni.
Fielding athletic teams known as the SIU Edwardsville Cougars, the university participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
== History ==
During the post–World War II economic expansion, a lack of public higher education was noticeable in the growing Metro-East area. Organizations from across the area took it upon themselves to relieve this lack. Southern Illinois University (SIU), over 100 miles (160 km) to the region's south, opened a residence center in Belleville in 1949. In 1955, the Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce founded the Southwestern Illinois Council …
