Minority-Serving Institution Status
The University of Illinois Chicago is recognized as one of the most diverse research-intensive universities in the United States.
Since 2010, UIC has been federally-designated as a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) -- a U.S. Department of Education status given to universities that serve high enrollments of racial and ethnic minority and low-income students. That same year, UIC was designated an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and has received four grants totaling $7.1 million in support of its AANAPISI Initiative.
In 2016, a five-year, $5.3 million grant from the Department of Education affirmed UIC’s designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The grant supports UIC’s efforts to increase the number of Latino/a and low-income students attaining degrees in STEM fields.
The designations allow UIC to apply for any new grant opportunities set aside for federal MSI, AANAPISI, and HSI institutions under Titles III and V of the Higher Education act of 1965, as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.
The university’s institutional commitment and support for these student populations has been recognized nationally, including the 2018 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.