University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Courses & Fees

ADVERTISING (ADV), offers students the opportunity to learn and think about advertising as a way of modeling the mind, as a material reflection of social structure, as a fundamentally modern phenomenon, as an art form, and even as a basis for community, by drawing on insights from psychology, sociology, history, literature, and anthropology. This program will thoroughly infuse the understanding of consumer behavior and message knowledge base and, therefore, provide a long-lasting education for students.

The Food Animal Production and Management Concentration is designed for students intending to pursue a career in animal care and management or one of the associated food production industries. It emphasizes the scientific disciplines and the application of technology involved in animal production and animal products, as well as providing the opportunity to enhance a student’s practical knowledge through business courses.

The Hospitality Management concentration prescribes courses that meet the professional needs of the hospitality industry and career goals of students entering the major. The concentration is designed for students interested in integrating the basic principles of business and hospitality management with the goal of pursuing professional and management careers in hospitality-related industries. The program comprises 35 hours of hospitality-related course work, including food science; food management; nutrition; sanitation; purchasing; and the management of institutional, commercial, and fine dining facilities. Through the integration of food-focused theory, practice, and experience, it is the mission of the program to prepare leaders in the hospitality industry with a foundation in science, business, and management. 

The Management Major is designed to enable business students to be leaders and innovators in their work teams and organizations. You’ll be trained to analyze and solve managerial problems – be they around people, organizations, or markets - that every organization faces in its day-to-day operations. You’ll take courses about leading individuals and teams, designing and managing organizations, effective negotiation, and strategic human resource management. You’ll also choose from a variety of electives, including new product development, project management, entrepreneurship, and international business.

The Marketing student studies business activities directly related to the process of developing, deciding, and placing meaningful assortments of goods and services in the hands of the consumer.  The Marketing major is concerned with the efficient and effective performance of marketing activities and coordinating with the other operations of the firm. In addition to the Marketing Major's requirements, Business Administration students must also fulfill the Urbana-Champaign campus's General Education requirements and the Gies College of Business's Core Courses requirements 

The Operations Management (OM) Major prepares students for careers in manufacturing and service management, operations strategy consulting, purchasing and supply management, project management, and quality management. OM professionals work with most other units in any organization, more so with engineering, human resource management, information systems, and marketing. The OM curriculum focuses on analytical decision-making, logistics, new product development, operations strategy, process improvement, project management, quality control, and supply chain management. Students are trained in ways of developing, making, and delivering goods and services efficiently and effectively – generating value by satisfying ever-changing customer needs while improving profitability.

In this major, you’ll learn how to design, manage, and evaluate a variety of recreation, sport and tourism activities and services to diverse populations. You'll receive a broad general education and take courses in management, special events, and marketing to prepare you for a professional career. You’ll choose from one of three concentrations:

• Recreation Management
• Sport Management
• Tourism Management

The Strategic Business Development and Entrepreneurship major examines how business opportunities are identified and exploited for society through existing and new organizations. Students will learn to generate and evaluate ideas, develop those ideas into products and services, assemble resources, mitigate risks, and lead organizations that meet human needs. The degree prepares students to work within existing organizations as well as to create new organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit.

The Supply Chain Management student studies the flow of finances, information and materials starting from supply chain planning to the sourcing of raw material, parts and components through the manufacturing or processing sector to the marketing and delivery of end products for industrial customers or individual consumers.  The Supply Chain Management Major is available only to qualified students based upon application and personal interviews.  For more information, contact the Director of the Supply Chain Management Program.

Advertising education was founded at the University of Illinois in 1946, when Charles H. Sandage, the "father of advertising", arrived on campus. His vision of educating the future of the industry was grounded in theoretical and foundational courses emphasizing the "why of advertising" - not just the "how."

Our courses provide the theoretical, research, and strategic decision-making skills essential for any career in advertising or advanced degree program. Our program allows for flexibility of specialized interest through electives within and outside the department.

Computer Engineering is a blooming discipline focused on the development of vital computing technologies that range from chips to computers to networks to programming tools and key algorithms. Fundamentally, Computer Engineering addresses the problem of building scalable, trustworthy computing systems and applications, and the faculty's interests span a broad spectrum of issues pertinent to this theme. Computer engineering has taken the lead in revolutionizing many science and engineering disciplines with parallel computing, from chips to clouds to planet-scale critical infrastructures, and has defined new standards of security, privacy, and dependability for systems ranging from small circuits to the electric power grids of many nations. Students need a broad and sound set of mathematical and computing skills and are well-served by a flexible curriculum that enables them to pursue topics of interest among the many subdisciplines in computing.

The computer engineering core curriculum focuses on fundamental computer engineering knowledge: circuits, systems, electromagnetics, computer systems, electronics for information processing and communication, and computer science. The rich set of ECE elective courses permits students to concentrate in any sub-discipline of computer engineering including hardware systems; cyberphysical systems; foundations and theory; software and languages; algorithms and mathematical tools; trust, reliability, security; networking, mobile and distributed computing; big data analytics and systems; AI, machine learning, robotics, cybernetics.

The Information Systems major prepares students to comfortably navigate through the challenges posed by the new-age organizations and society that are increasingly getting digitized.

Students learn about the design, implementation, and protection of systems and technology to address the information processing needs of an organization, and provide data and information for managerial decision-making. IS majors take both, technology and business courses which equip them with the required skill-set to be able to design, develop and deploy computer and software-based solutions in order to help businesses attain their tactical and strategic objectives.

Some of the key courses taken by IS majors include information technology for networked organizations, systems analysis and design, and database management. Because computers and software are used in all functional areas of business today, IS majors may choose to take additional courses in data analytics, information security/cyber-security, project management, human-computer interaction, programming, and social media applications to strengthen their resume, gain a wider exposure to domains supported by IS specialists, and prepare themselves to face the challenges in the technology-driven business world of today. IS majors will have the required knowledge and skill-set to make decisions about the selection and implementation of information systems/information technology, be a liaison between non-technical managers, computer programmers, and technical managers, assume a wide variety of roles requiring computer-based solutions, and generally be business leaders of the digital era.

Level 21 reflects the design, technology and management disciplines in theatre arts.  It has seven unique yet inter-related concentrations in:  Arts + Entertainment Technology, Costume Design + Technology, Lighting Design + Technology, Scene Design, Scenic Technology, Sound Design + Technology, and Stage Management.  Freshman and sophomore students learn the foundations of theatrical production with a focus on acquiring practical skills for application in advanced course work and in  theatre productions.  Junior and senior students participate in advanced study in their chosen discipline supported by one-on-one faculty mentoring of assigned projects.  Students in this area are the designers, technicians, managers, artisans and crew for over a dozen theater, musical theater, dance and opera productions at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and work on these shows in various roles throughout their entire course of study.

The Aerospace Engineering curriculum provides a strong fundamental background in engineering, mathematics, and science, along with the ability to apply this fundamental knowledge to the analysis and design of future aircraft and spacecraft. It also prepares students for lifelong learning and the attainment of their career goals in the field of aerospace engineering and in a wide range of other areas. The concepts of system design are introduced early in the curriculum and culminate in the yearlong senior capstone design experience, in which students work in teams to respond to a design challenge from industry, government, or a professional engineering society. Technical and free electives allows the student to pursue an individualized program of study.

Agricultural and biological engineering is the application of mathematics, physical and biological science, and engineering to agriculture, food systems, energy, natural resources, the environment, and related biological systems. This ABET-accredited program has special emphasis on environmental protection and the biological interface of plants, animals, soils, and microorganisms with the design and performance of environments, machines, mechanisms, processes, and structures.

The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering offers programs through the College of ACES and The Grainger College of Engineering.

Students pursuing the B.S. Degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering choose from one of two concentrations, one of which is the concentration in Biological Engineering. This concentration integrates biology and engineering to provide solutions to problems related to living systems (plants, animals, and microorganisms). Engineered biological systems vary widely in scale. At the molecular level, nanometer-scale devices consist of a few biomolecules inside individual cells. At the other extreme, regionally-scaled complex ecosystems depend upon multiple species of interacting living organisms. Such systems are becoming increasingly important in areas such as bioenergy, bioprocessing, nanotechnology, biosensing, bio-informatics, and bioenvironment. Within this concentration, students are strongly encouraged to select a set of coherent courses that constitutes a specialization in their area of career interest either from the following list or a customized area chosen in consultation with an advisor:

• Bioenvironmental Engineering
• Ecological Engineering
• Food and Bioprocess Engineering
• Nanoscale Biological Engineering

This major will help you understand how human biological systems function. You'll also learn how to develop technology-based solutions to societal needs in human development and disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

The first two years of the Chemical Engineering curriculum provide a strong foundation in basic sciences through Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, an introduction to what Chemical Engineers do, and the fundamental basis of Chemical Engineering (Mass and Energy Balances and Thermodynamics.)  In the third year, students delve deeper into more specialized Chemistry courses such as Physical and Analytical Chemistry, while exploring fundamental Chemical Engineering courses such as Momentum Transfer, Separations, and Reactor Design. The Senior year incorporates all of this learning through high level technical electives, Process Control, Capstone Lab, and Capstone Design courses. It is through the lab and design class that students apply everything they have learned in previous Chemical Engineering courses to real-world team projects and presentations.

The Chemical Engineering specialized curriculum provides two areas of concentration: Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering. Each area is based on a strong fundamental understanding of Chemical Engineering, however the Biomolecular concentration’s technical electives focus more on bio-applied processing and technology.

Civil and environmental engineers apply basic principles of science, supported by mathematical and computational tools, to address the biggest challenges facing society: ensuring clean air, safe drinking water and sanitation; addressing our changing environment; protecting the population from natural and man-made hazards; designing a sustainable infrastructure that serves everyone; re-imagining human and commodity traffic for an automated future; and of course designing and constructing the world’s tallest buildings and most iconic bridges.

The civil engineering program comprises seven focus areas (construction engineering and management, construction materials, environmental engineering and science, geotechnical engineering, water resources engineering and science, structural engineering, and transportation engineering) and three interdisciplinary programs (sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems; energy-water-environment sustainability; and societal risk and hazard mitigation). Although each area and program has its own special body of knowledge and engineering tools, civil and environmental engineering projects often use knowledge and data from many of these topical areas together in order to address societal challenges.

CEE’s Program Education Objectives are to educate CEE students to:

1. Successfully enter the civil and environmental engineering profession as practicing engineers and consultants with prominent companies and organizations in diverse topic areas it comprises;
2. Pursue graduate education and research at major research universities and national laboratories;
3. Pursue professional licensure;
4. Advance to leadership positions in the profession;
5. Engage in continued learning through professional development;
6. Participate in and contribute to professional societies and community services.

Electrical Engineering is a multifaceted discipline that has produced an astounding progression of technological innovations related to energy and information that continues to shape virtually every aspect of modern life. Electrical engineers need a broad and solid foundation in mathematics and physics to support their education in the engineering principles of analysis, synthesis, design, implementation, and testing of the devices and systems that provide the bedrock of modern energy, communication, sensing, computing, medical, security, and defense infrastructures. Within each subdiscipline one can find application domains that strongly rely on hands-on experimental work or that are based on theoretical, mathematical, and computational approaches. The multidisciplinary nature of the electrical engineering education addresses the growing demand for the innovation and design of sensing, communication, computing, and decision-making systems of increasing complexity in consumer, defense, and medical applications.

The curriculum starts with a core of fundamental courses on circuits, electromagnetics, solid-state electronics, and computer systems, leading to a comprehensive array of specialized courses and laboratories in all the important areas of modern electrical engineering. 

The Engineering Mechanics program at Illinois (accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET) is a major that focuses on the principles of mechanics that underpin design and engineering in diverse industries including materials, energy, biotechnology, civil, and aerospace to name a few. Students learn rigorous mathematical, scientific, and engineering principles in subject areas such as statics, dynamics, strength of materials, and fluid dynamics. Further, Engineering Mechanics students learn how to apply these basic principles in modern engineering design through laboratory and project work. The program also benefits from a cohesive secondary field which students can tailor to fit their academic and career objectives. Engineering Mechanics is well suited for students with an interest in analysis and design, and physical principles.