Sparking Change

Read the latest stories about how the University of Illinois System is widening doors of opportunities, creating a stronger, more diverse workforce for our state and beyond.

The University of Illinois at Chicago ranks highest in the Midwest for the diversity of its students and faculty in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings. 

The north Urbana community will be called Hope Village — a place for people who are medically fragile and chronically homeless to live and get the kinds of help they need.

The Discovery Partners Institute’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs is launching its first apprenticeship program in partnership with global professional services leader Cognizant, aimed at advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech industry.

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Athletics Department announced today a $250,000 commitment from football letter winner and two-time alumnus Al Ronan ('69 & '70) to establish the Al Ronan Family UIC Athletics Scholarship Fund.

A new Master of Engineering online degree program will increase access to graduate degrees for working engineers, scientists and managers with strong quantitative backgrounds as well as meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning professionals.

The University of Illinois Chicago announced a $2.5 million grant to develop an accredited postsecondary two-year certificate program aimed at preparing people with intellectual disabilities for employment opportunities.

University of Illinois Chicago alum Lura Buckley attributes her success to Chicago’s One Million Degrees, as well as support from family, friends, mentors and educators.

In an effort to bolster the number of Black and Latino students studying STEM-related fields, the University of Illinois Chicago has established a merit-based scholarship program within the College of Engineering and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

A new University of Illinois Chicago scholarship honoring the groundbreaking African American journalist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells will serve Chicago Public Schools and Archdiocese of Chicago students.

The Dental Assistant Pathway Program aims to alleviate the national dental assistant shortage and provide a no-cost employment pathway for those who may never have considered a career in dentistry.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has joined the American Talent Initiative, a coalition of top universities committed to enhancing the recruitment, enrollment and graduation of high-achieving lower- and moderate-income students. More...

Furthering its longstanding commitment to break down barriers to business education, Gies College of Business is launching a pair of fully online, credit-bearing graduate certificates, the first ever offered by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Illinois College of Medicine will reduce its tuition rates for all students, beginning with the 2020-21 academic year to address the rising indebtedness of medical students upon graduation. More...

This two-year program allows community college graduates to complete University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign BSW degrees while residing in Chicago, through a combination of hybrid and online courses and metropolitan-area based internships.

The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a cutting-edge program launched by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The program is designed to prepare Illinois undergraduates for leadership roles in the sustainability field.

UIC College of Nursing, UIC Extended Campus, and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), will offer a dual-admissions pathway from the CCC Associate Degree in Nursing to UIC’s online RN to BSN degree-completion program.

The University of Illinois Springfield is making it easier for community college transfer students to complete their bachelor's degree. Initiatives include reducing the gap between when transfer applicants are admitted and their initial advising appointments, developing clear articulation pathways for top feeder community colleges and establishing advising hours on the community college campus.

The Discovery Partners Institute and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program, in partnership with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

Digital Scholars, now in its third year, is an intensive, free, five-week summer program for high school students and incoming UIC freshmen. 

University of Illinois Extension and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences(ACES) are now offering up to 54 scholarships for the 2018-2019 academic year. More...

Martina Smith is the first recipient of the Hartshorne and Plunkard Fellowship, a new annual award given to a UIC architecture graduate student which aims to diversify the talent pipeline into the architectural profession.

The first three students of UIC's Call Me MISTER initiative will graduate from the UIC College of Education May 6, and be one step closer to becoming Chicago-area teachers and mentors to students who look like them.

More than 100 women and nonbinary students pursuing undergraduate degrees in computer science, data science and other tech disciplines at the University of Illinois Chicago will team up with 17 Chicago and national companies to help solve technology-related business challenges.

The University of Illinois Chicago is the recipient of a $40 million donation from philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott. It is the largest gift from an individual in school history. The funds will provide life-changing support for first-generation and low-income students attending UIC.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is launching a new Professional Master of Computer Science degree in Chicago with the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), designed as a path for CS students to continue their education and accelerate their careers.

Gies College of Business at UIUC is partnering with Google to prepare learners in the Google Career Certificate programs with critical business skills like leadership, teamwork, and strategic thinking.

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program today announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

Chicago/Skills will provide tuition-free technology training and paid apprenticeship opportunities to as many as 2,500 people over five years.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among 18 institutions recognized as top producers for both Fulbright Students and Fulbright Scholars. With eight faculty members named, this is the second year in a row that Illinois was named a top producer of U.S. Scholars.

UIC and UIS have announced the creation of a joint undergraduate nursing curriculum that will guarantee a spot for incoming freshmen in UIC’s highly ranked nursing program.

The Discovery Partners Institute, in partnership with Apple, is launching a training program for teachers in mobile app development using Swift, enabling participants to gain programming skills and bring CS concepts into their K-12 classrooms.

The University of Illinois at Springfield is waiving all application fees for prospective students in an effort to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to pursue a higher education. More...

UIS undergraduate students now have the opportunity to earn both their bachelor’s degree and a law degree in six years (compared to the typical seven years) thanks to a new agreement with the UIC School of Law.

Raymond Hartshorne and James Plunkard have committed $500,000 to the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Architecture to create an endowed fellowship aimed at increasing diversity among students obtaining a UIC architecture education at the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts.

Illinois Extension's SNAP-Education program saw that existing community food resource maps were fragmented and scattered. The Find Food IL Map aimed to streamline access, whether a person needed free meals or used some sort of benefit.

A new financial-aid program, Illinois Commitment aims to make attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign more affordable for middle-income families in the state of Illinois. More...

All three U of I System universities are among the 23 institutions that have formalized partnerships with Hope Chicago, the innovative two-generation scholarship program providing college and vocational scholarships to Chicago Public School students and their parents.

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield developed the Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance course at the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Enrollment grew across the University of Illinois System this fall, topping 90,000 students for the first time and setting a record for the eighth straight year despite the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University of Illinois Springfield is offering students more options to advance their education online on their own schedule. Starting in fall 2021, several new fully online degrees and certificates will be added.

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) has been inducted into the OneTen employer partner network, a coalition of leading CEOs and their companies aiming to upskill, hire, and advance one million Black individuals without four-year degrees over the next decade.

The seventh annual Illini Success report released today shows that University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates in summer 2020, fall 2020 and spring 2021 found jobs, enrolled in graduate school or began volunteer programs on par with previous years.

Enrollment this fall across the University of Illinois System grew to a record high for the seventh straight year, increasing 3.8 percent to nearly 89,000 students, President Tim Killeen announced. More...

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) has been awarded $94,191 by the Joyce Foundation to fund a two-year study of Illinois’ dual-credit program, which enables high school students to undertake coursework that counts for high school and college credit.

U of I System President Tim Killeen recently launched an initiative to expand connections with Mexico, seeking to increase enrollment of Mexican students as well as academic and research partnerships with universities, government agencies and private industry in Mexico.

Students from Mexico studying here, as well as Mexican-American students doing research internships in Mexico, receive educational support and mentoring as part of the new Mexican & Mexican-American Students initiative (I-MMÁS).

Incoming freshmen at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with autism can avail themselves of autism-specific support by participating in the Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative, a pilot program getting underway in the fall semester.

UIS is offering its first on-campus dual-credit class for high school students as part of a pilot program. The pilot course, CHE 199A: General, Organic, and Biochemistry, is taught by a faculty member and students earn high school and college credit. More...

Online programs at all three universities in the University of Illinois System have been recognized in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Best Online Programs rankings. 

While many high schools in the state offer some Advanced Placement courses, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) says nearly two-thirds of districts – mostly in rural areas – did not enroll any AP students last year. Turning that around means more Sparking Change-style experiences that lead to successful pathways for college and careers.

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) has been awarded a total of $275,000 in funding from three organizations — CME Group Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies —  that will expand IWERC’s research on Illinois education issues.