Here at Roberto Clemente Community Academy, we like to guide and advise our graduating seniors to a wide variety of options when it comes to post-secondary opportunities. One of the options we offer to our students is to apply to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). We have found that this institution offers a wide variety of career and educational options for our mid to upper tier students.
UIC has become a popular option for our seniors for several reasons. First, it offers a diverse education which is attractive to our students. UIC features 15 academic colleges with 83 different bachelor degree programs; that means plenty of opportunities and our students have found that UIC offers almost anything they might be interested in. Although it is one of the largest universities in the city, which staffs over 3,000 professors and services over 29,000 students, it has an 18:1 student to teacher ratio.
Another reason why our students find UIC attractive is the proximity to home. Rarely do most high school graduates find such a “complete package” school so close to home. Many of our students begin their collegiate experience while still living at home—likely in or near Humboldt Park—and so UIC fits perfectly since it’s only a few miles west of downtown. Being accessible by CTA buses and trains has been one of the school’s biggest selling points.
Lastly, one of the biggest reasons why our Clemente students find UIC to be such a viable option is the cost per year. UIC’s tuition is, on average, between $10,000 – $14,000 per year for the commuting student, which is far less expensive than most private institutions. Our students are quickly finding out that they can get a quality education, with a wide variety of majors, which is close to home, at an affordable price.
When it comes to match and fit, UIC has proven to be quite the catch for several of our Wildcats, both past and present. Earlier this school year Clemente alumni came to speak to our juniors and seniors about preparing for college, three of whom currently attend UIC. They shared some insight about why they chose their respective institutions and the UIC students cited several of the qualities mentioned earlier: affordability, academic variety, and proximity to home. And just recently, one of our current seniors was accepted to UIC! The Allied Health student plans to become a doctor and is excited to study medicine when she enrolls in the fall. So here’s to UIC for continuing to be part of our students’ success!