Illinois Institute of Technology, on the south side of Chicago, is small tech school that offers a quality education – and it’s often overlooked. It was originally founded in 1893 as Armour Institute with a $1 million donation to support the creation of a school where “students of all backgrounds could prepare for meaningful roles in a changing industrial society.” And today, it’s doing just that.

Famed architect Mies van der Rohe designed 20 of the buildings on the 120-acre main campus and in fact headed the architecture program for 20 years. There are 3 satellite campuses as well. The Wall Street Journal ranks IIT #1 in Illinois for Best Salaries of Graduates, the US News and World Report ranks it #29 for Best Value School, and the NY Times ranks it #1 in Illinois as well as #20 in the US for high earnings and economic mobility.

IIT offers many majors designed to train young people to be successful in the work force. The College of Engineering offers 12 different majors including Architectural Engineering, Engineering Management, Materials Science and Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering. The College of Computing majors include Artificial Intelligence, Applied Math, and Applied Cybersecurity and Information Technology. The majors within the College of Science and Letters include Bioinformatics, Applied Analytics, Bioanalytical Chemistry, Digital Humanities, Food Science and Nutrition, and Astrophysics. The School of Business offers a degree in Business Administration, and the College of Architecture offers a B. Arch. And students are welcome to apply in undeclared through the Discover+ program and take 2 years to explore before choosing a major. There’s also a really interesting Tech+ program that allows students to combine 2 majors into one interdisciplinary degree, such as Business and Engineering or Economics and Cybersecurity.

IIT is a tech-centered institution, but they have athletes here too, competing in the Division 3 NACC conference. There are also 8 fraternities and 2 sororities, and campus is a mile from Lake Michigan. All students receive passes to ride Chicago Transit Authority for free as well as unlimited bicycle rentals across the city – also free.

The rigor here is real, but so are the hands-on opportunities. For instance, ITT is well known for their IPRO Program (Interprofessional Projects Program) in which students studying different disciplines come together to solve real problems, some of which are sponsored by local companies and nonprofits. During COVID, faculty, students and alumni designed socially distanced shelters for dining that were actually used by Chicago restaurants, helping them to re-open.

With 3100 undergraduates coming from 49 different states, the Illinois Institute of Technology is not as regional as you’d think.