University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Illinois Continues to Make Education Accessible

Student support continues to be a top priority at Illinois. With the second largest first year student class and largest total student body, the promise of a world class education at the University of Illinois remains for aspiring scholars. With the growth of the student population, over 500 million dollars was awarded in student aid with 68% of undergraduate students receiving gift aid. 2022-2023 saw the largest amount of financial aid granted at Illinois.

One program supporting Illinois residents is Illinois Commitment. Illinois Commitment is one example, supporting Illinois residents by covering full tuition and fees for qualified, in-state students. Over 4,000 families have benefited from the program and the Illinois Commitment donors who make Illinois an affordable reality for students across the state.

Crowdfunding Boosts Programs at Illinois

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) was launched in 2007 to provide affordable and accessible courses, lectures, and events to lifelong learners. The programs offered are intended for individuals fifty or older in or connected to the university community. To mark the institute’s fifteenth anniversary, OLLI launched a crowdfunding campaign raising over $23,000 in just fifteen days.

The Marching Illini enjoyed their most successful March Forth campaign to date. For the past five years, the Best Band in the Land has engaged in an annual crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for travel, instruments, and scholarships for its members. This past March, the band raised more than 500 gifts totaling to $84,122, enabling the band to support its members and lend its signature sound to the 2023-2024 calendar of events.

Campus Continues to Evolve Thanks to Donor Support

From well-known landmarks to new appearances, the capital projects changing the Illinois campus landscape are made possible, in part, by the generous supporters of the University of Illinois. The renovation of Altgeld Hall is enhancing the recognizable exterior sandstone as well as transforming the research and classroom spaces on the interior, with completion projected in 2026. Another space taking on an updated look is the Richard T. Ubben Basketball Complex which will add 40,000 square feet and renovate the existing team spaces. Reshaping the center of campus, the University Library will create a new home for the special collections and rare manuscripts on campus as well as expand student study and meeting spaces. The new South Campus Center for Interdisciplinary Learning (SCCIL) building, a partnership between Gies and campus, will bolster the support for online programs and expand collaborative spaces on campus upon its completion in 2025.

Philanthropy Supports our Campus and Beyond

The iSchool at Illinois is partnering with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to ensure students in Chicago have access to a school librarian. The support of Lionelle and James Elsesser as well as CPS funding is bolstering a new program designed to aid current CPS teachers to grow in their careers through a Librarian Endorsement via the iSchool.

Marty Burke, Illinois CI MED May and Ving Lee Professor for Chemical Innovation, is leading a research team alongside researchers from the University of Iowa in a monumental development to treat cystic fibrosis. The team has developed an inhalable molecular prosthetic drug with the goal of increasing lung function and addressing cystic fibrosis at its root cause. This advancement in treatment, now in the clinical trial phase, was made possible by the generous support of numerous donors contributing over $32 million in funding.