Since its founding in 1867, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has earned a reputation as a world-class leader in research, teaching, and public engagement.
With our land-grant heritage as a foundation, we pioneer innovative research that tackles global problems and expands the human experience. Our transformative learning experiences, in and out of the classroom, are designed to produce alumni who desire to make a significant, societal impact.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is charged by our state to enhance the lives of citizens in Illinois, across the nation and around the world through our leadership in learning, discovery, engagement and economic development.
We will be the pre-eminent* public research university with a land-grant mission and global impact.
At Illinois, our focus on research shapes our identity, permeates our classrooms and fuels our outreach. Fostering discovery and innovation is our fundamental mission. As a public, land-grant university, we have the responsibility to create new knowledge and new ideas and translate these into better ways of working, living and learning for our state, nation and world.
Entrepreneurship flows from the classrooms to Research Park, a space that houses everything from Fortune 500 companies to student-founded startups. We are consistently ranked among the top five universities for NSF-funded research and our total annual research funding exceeds $600 million.