The New International Encyclopædia/Illinois, University of

ILLINOIS, University of. The State University of Illinois, occupying a site of 600 acres, between the cities of Urbana and Champaign. It was chartered in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial University, and assumed its present name in 1885. In 1870 women were admitted as students, and now form about one-sixth of the whole attendance. The university is divided into six colleges: Literature and arts, science, engineering, agriculture, law, and medicine, including schools of library and science, art and design, music, military science, and pedagogy, and preparatory and graduate departments. The State laboratory of natural history and the United States agricultural experiment station for Illinois are departments of the university, but have separate financial support. The schools of pharmacy, medicine, and dentistry are situated in Chicago. The university owns valuable collections in zoölogy, geology, and other departments, an art gallery, and an excellent collection of historical portraits. The library contains about 60,000 volumes, exclusive of special departmental libraries. The university holds a summer session of nine weeks designed primarily for teachers. It maintains close relations with the high schools of the State through a careful system of inspection and accrediting. It has developed rapidly, and is constantly engaged in scientific investigations bearing upon the interests of the State. In 1902 it had 21 buildings, 300 instructors, and over 3200 students, of whom about 1000 were in attendance at the undergraduate college. At the same time its endowment amounted to $645,000, its buildings and grounds were valued at $1,175,000, and its annual income, mainly derived from legislative appropriations, was $780,000.