University of Illinois at Chicago

Adjacent to the Chicago Loop on a 240-acre urban campus in the Near West Side neighborhood of the third largest city in the United States with a global reach, the University of Illinois at Chicago is a major state-funded public research institution. With more than 28,000 enrolled students, it is estimated that around one in 20 Chicago residents attend the university. Home to the largest medical school in the nation with the highest annual research expenditures exceeding $335 million, UIC serves as the primary educator for Illinois' physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, and other healthcare providers.

First founded as the poly-technical branch of the University of Illinois System in 1867, the college initially consisted of the Chicago-based health colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy. As medical education and research dramatically expanded in the succeeding decades, the government called for the establishment of an undergraduate Chicago campus in 1935. After World War II, UIC was housed on Navy Pier to accommodate primarily student veterans on the G.I. Bill. Known as "Harvard on the Rocks," the University of Illinois at Chicago finally moved to its current location and merged into a major Carnegie research institution by 1982.

Not only has the U.S. News and World Report recognized UIC as the 128th best college and 63rd top public school in the entire nation, but the Times Higher Education places the university as the 11th best in the world among those less than 50 years old. Fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (NCA), the University of Illinois at Chicago offers 74 bachelor degrees, 77 master degrees, and 60 doctoral degrees through its 15 colleges. The highest ranked programs are in business administration, education, engineering, medicine, chemistry, clinical psychology, criminology, nursing, pharmacy, and public health.

As a truly global institution in which more than one-third of UIC students speak English as a second language, there are more than 200 student organizations and volunteer groups to connect students from around the world on-campus. Nicknamed the Flames in reference to the Great Chicago Fire, the University of Illinois at Chicago sponsors varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and volleyball for competition in NCAA Division I Horizon League. Some of the most notable former Flames include architect Michael Turnbull, model Megan Hauserman, actor Justin Hartley, news anchor John Chancellor, novelist Stuart Kaminsky, and MLB center fielder Curtis Granderson.