One University, Many Locations, Statewide Impact
The Southern Illinois University System - where learning comes first, where students are valued and encouraged to explore new ideas, and where progress is complemented by tradition.
SIU’s influence can be felt far beyond the locations of its great campuses. While it serves as an economic engine for southern Illinois, it more importantly is a quality institution of learning for the citizens of Illinois, the nation, and the world.
Chartered in 1869, Southern Illinois University, first known as Southern Illinois Normal University, opened its doors for instruction in Carbondale in 1874 in a one-building teacher training institution. In 1947, the name was changed to Southern Illinois University, reflecting the institution’s expanding academic mission.
The two institutions that constitute Southern Illinois University today - Southern Illinois University Carbondale, with a School of Medicine in Springfield and partnership in the University Center of Lake County, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, with a School of Dental Medicine in Alton and a Center in East St. Louis - reach not only from the Shawnee National Forest to the bluffs of the Mississippi River, but also through the flatlands of central Illinois to the shores of Lake Michigan.
With a total budget of approximately $867 million, the University employs more than 7,000 faculty, staff, and administrators who serve over 23,500 students. A modern and comprehensive post-secondary educational system, SIU offers a broad range of academic programs that lead to associate, baccalaureate, master's, specialist's, and doctoral and professional practice degrees in 32 fields including law, medicine, pharmacy, and dental medicine.
With a strong commitment to antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion on its campuses, the SIU System was the only university system in the United States to receive the 2022 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
