UIUC Urbana Champaign

History

The Morrill Act of 1862 granted land to each state of the U.S. for establishing a major public university. This led to the formation of Illinois Industrial University in 1867, where students were taught agriculture, mechanic arts and military training. John Milton Gregory was the first President of the University. The name changed to University of Illinois in 1885. Later, the name changed to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1982 in order to establish a separate identity for the campus. Post World War II, the University flourished under President David Henry due to the extensive federal support for scientific and technological research resulting in multifold enrolments marking an improvement in its academic standing.

MISSION STATEMENT

The University of Illinois will transform lives and serve society by educating, creating knowledge and putting knowledge to work on a large scale and with excellence.

Core Strengths of the School

The University of Illinois has been consistently rated as one of the top MBA Schools in the United States for its academic excellence and reservoir of research resources. The program focuses on building the business acumen of the students during the first year by teaching core business topics that would prepare them to handle complex business challenges in the future. The program equips the students with a strong background in business fundamentals, so that they succeed in the competitive global workplace. During the second year, students have the option to customize their MBA program by choosing the area of concentration that best aligns with their goals. The unique customization offered by the school gives flexibility to the students to choose from an array of business and non-business courses that would best suit their needs. The School is well known for its world-class faculty, who bond with the students beyond the confines of the classroom through informal advising, collaboration and mentoring. The School leverages its alumni network to the fullest by helping students establish valuable business connections that translate later into internship and full-time job opportunities.

Uniqueness in MBA Pedagogy

The Experiential Learning opportunities offered during the program are a platform for the students to apply the business concepts in a real business scenario. Illinois Business Consulting is an initiative in this direction, where the students work as consultants for Fortune 500 companies or start-ups or non-profit organizations. Students learn to network with the top-executives of the organization and develop innovative solutions to the business challenges faced by these companies. The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership is a platform for students who dream to embark on their entrepreneurial journey. Students are encouraged to come up with business ideas and provided the necessary resources and mentorship from the faculty and community members to implement their ideas. The University of Illinois Research Park helps students collaborate with startups and established firms on internal R&D or product development programs. The Illinois Leadership Center organizes workshops, courses and activities that would help students hone their leadership skills in order to succeed in the competitive global workplace. Entrepreneurs Without Borders EWOB is a collaborative effort by the students and faculty members to enable entrepreneurship in impoverished communities across the world by training its students to overcome the global business challenges of 21st century. EWOB focuses on resolving the business challenges of small communities that are way behind in terms of entrepreneurial literacy and have untapped customer segments. The Internal Case Competitions and External Case Competitions are an opportunity for students to showcase their business acumen. Students get the experience of working in a team environment, evaluating the viewpoints of all team members, taking risks after thorough evaluation and brainstorming sessions within the team, and leveraging the strengths of team members and overcoming the weaknesses. The Margolis Market Information Lab MIL is equipped with state-of-the-art electronic sources of financial and business data and software products, where students are trained on the latest tools and software applications used globally by all industrial firms.zations that have community responsibility and social outreach as part of their agenda and works on improving the sustainability of such organizations.

The Global Consulting Program GCP enables students to make international trips to countries like China, Brazil, India and South Africa. Students liaise with clients and network with the high profile executives of global business firms over their consulting projects. They get inside exposure to the business, industries and economy of the visiting country and get implicit insights into emerging markets and global business scenario.

CONCENTRATIONS OFFERED

LOCATION ADVANTAGES

Champaign shares the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign with its sister city Urbana. Champaign is the hub of several technology startups and Fortune 500 companies that result in a vast number of internships and full-time job opportunities for the students. Significant numbers of technology and software companies like AMD, Intel, IBM, Amdocs, etc., reside in Champaign that proves to be advantageous to the students, as they get to interact with the business executives of these firms as part of their consulting experience. The Krannert Art Museum has a splendid collection of modern and classical art. Visitors can enjoy the serene and peaceful environment while having a walk at the walkways of Meadowbrook Park and Busey Woods. The city provides a perfect micro-urban environment.

CAREER SUPPORT

The Illinois Business Career Services plays an integral role in chalking the career path of the students. The Career Services plays an active role in the MBA Professional Development program, which is based on the LEAD model (Learn, Explore, Access, Deploy). The Center trains students on their leadership and interpersonal skills by organizing workshops that would refine their professional knowledge and polish their managerial skills in order to transform them into efficient business leaders. The Career Services team provides access to an array of student resources that help them come up with a structured job search strategy. The Career Services team partners with recruiters to help talented students land into their dream jobs. Students are trained on interview and negotiation skills, so that they are able to improve their marketability and strategically position themselves to embark on their professional journey.