Campus Statistics Used in Surveys

Version 1:

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a place of excellence, innovation, and tradition. More than 2,000 Urbana-Champaign faculty members lead 40,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students in a process of discovery and learning in 16 colleges and schools and more than 150 research centers and labs. Faculty and students pursue projects with other top scholars from around the world and across disciplines. Campus resources include one the world's largest public university libraries, outstanding centers for the arts, and many world-class research facilities, including the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Beckman Institute, Institute for Genomic Biology and Siebel Center for Computer Science.

The atmosphere of innovation that permeates the Illinois campus is based on a history of interdisciplinary exploration leading to world-changing discoveries. Illinois provides a diverse learning environment: students and faculty members from more than 120 nations, and a choice of 150 undergraduate programs of study. Students find opportunities ranging from participating in research or studying abroad, to leading one of more than 1,000 student organizations.

Eleven University of Illinois alumni have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. Of twelve Nobel laureates who have served on the faculty, two were honored for work undertaken at this University. In addition, three graduates of University High School have received Nobel Prizes. Illinois faculty members have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, Guggenheim Fellowships and memberships in the nation's elite academies of the arts and sciences. In fall, 2003, Illinois became only the third American public university, and the eleventh institution in the world, ever to have two Nobel Prizes (in different fields) awarded to members of its faculty in the same year. And, only months before Professor Anthony Leggett was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics and Professor Paul Lauterbur was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine/physiology, a third faculty member, Professor Carl Woese, won the Crafoord Prize, the Nobel equivalent for biology. These are the instructors and mentors of Illinois students.

Version 2:

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the state’s flagship institution: a classic land grant university, dedicated to its traditional excellence in education, research, and public engagement, and driven to innovate in each of these missions.

More than 2,000 Urbana-Champaign faculty members lead more than 40,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students in a process of discovery and learning in 16 colleges and schools and more than 150 research centers and labs. 

Undergraduates make up three-quarters of the student population.  Nearly 90 percent of the undergraduate students come from the 102 counties of Illinois, with the rest traveling to Illinois from all 50 states and more than 100 nations.  All are highly qualified and choose between 150 undergraduate programs of study. The middle 50% of  freshmen at Illinois score between 25 and 30 on the ACT, and these same students ranked between the 84th and 96th percentile in their high school graduating classes. Undergraduate students often travel around the globe through one of the top ten study abroad programs among major research institutions in the United States.

Faculty members also are well connected internationally, collaborating with other top scholars from around the world and across disciplines.  They are world-renowned scholars who have been recognized with such top awards as Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim Fellowships, Tony Awards, MacArthur “genius” awards, and memberships in the nation’s elite academies of arts and sciences.  Of twelve Nobel laureates who have served on the faculty, two were honored for work undertaken at this University. Illinois became only the third American public university, and the eleventh institution in the world, ever to have two Nobel Prizes (in different fields) awarded to members of its faculty in the same year. 

Urbana campus alumni are similarly recognized.  Eleven University alumni have won Nobel Prizes.

Campus resources include one the world's largest public university libraries, with an average 1.1 million items circulated and 225,000 reference questions answered each year. Outstanding centers for performance and training in the arts include one of the nation’s best performing arts facilities, the Krannert Center.  World-class research facilities in Urbana include the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Beckman Institute, Institute for Genomic Biology and Siebel Center for Computer Science.

Of course, many people across the nation know Urbana-Champaign as the home of nine men’s and 10 women’s Big Ten sports teams.  The campus Division of Intercollegiate Athletics is know for its integrity and its emphasis on scholarship among its athletes.  Men’s basketball and football are high profile sports, but Illinois also has won recent national and conference champions in such programs as gymnastics, tennis, and wrestling.