Western Illinois University : Rankings, Courses & Admissions

Western Illinois University is a public institution at Macomb, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1899 as the Western Illinois State Normal School. It was founded for catering to the needs for preparing teachers to work at the grammar schools throughout the State. 

The name of the college became the Western Illinois University in 1967. The institution gradually included several majors for high-school teacher preparation. It then came up with the graduate school, and a college for Arts and Sciences, in tandem with a liberal arts curriculum. It also set up institutions for Education and Human Services, Business and Technology, and Fine Arts and Communication. It has accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. The student to faculty ratio stands at 12:1 while 88% of students are transfers at the institution. 

The University Campus is located at Macomb, Illinois, within the Quad Cities. It lies on the banks of the Mississippi River as well. It has several research and study centers including the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood Education, Central Illinois Adult Education Service Center, Children's Literature Examination Center, COEHS Advising, Infant and Preschool Center, Center for Applied Criminal Justice, Maurice G. Kellogg Science Education Center, Reading Center, and the Center for Social Studies Education. 

There are 47 degree programs encompassing master, bachelor, certificate, and doctoral programs along with four degrees which are exclusively for the WIU Quad Cities campus, namely engineering, counseling, museum studies, and environmental science. 

Notable alumni include commentator, editor, and television producer, Mary Matalin, actor, journalist and voice actor, John Mahoney, and businessperson Robert Nardelli. 

Students have an opportunity to get practical experience across the spectrum, including gaining work experience at smaller businesses, various companies, and leading Fortune 500 entities, such as John Deere. There is a Center for Career Preparation and Employer Engagement which links students to companies for projects, internships, and career related prospects. The Center also offers career appointments, along with Handshake activities, resume development, cover letter development and review, personal statement building, mock interviews and support, searching for internships and jobs, navigating careers, and a lot more.  It also helps with choosing future graduate study programs along with career planning, and career fairs. Students can also access varied career tools and resources.