If you’re interested in computer science, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) could be the school for you. We’ve found that many students are unaware of just how good UIUC’s program is–sadly, the name ‘University of Illinois” doesn’t carry the prestige of a Harvard or Stanford. We’ve got news though–in the world of Computer Science, UIUC is way better than most of those schools.

So how are they ranked? Let’s take a look at CSRankings, the gold standard for computer science. While we don’t normally love ranking systems (they’re often based on things that don’t matter), CSRankings is different–their methodology is , and focuses on research and outcomes.

CSRankings tells us that UIUC’s CS department is one of in the country, if not . UIUC holds the #2 spot on CS Ranking’s for the past five years–in comparison, Stanford is #9, and Harvard comes in at #55. UIUC may not have the name of those sorts of schools, but their CS department is stellar.

It’s not just the rankings that tell us this though. UIUC alumni have founded some of the most successful tech companies–just take a look at to see their work. UIUC CS graduates also report some of the after graduation, averaging more than $110k in their first year of work. That’s a lot–just about twice the for college graduates, and ~20k more than the for CS majors. Hopefully, we’ve gotten your attention by this point: if you’re interested in CS, you should look into UIUC.

UIUC’s CS department is known for the variety of degrees offered. Students can choose to study in the engineering school as a CS major, or select one of the CS+ interdisciplinary programs. Interested in marketing? Take a look at the major that pairs students with the . Thinking about farming? Really? UIUC has the major for you–. UIUC’s is a wonderful option for students looking to apply their CS skills to specific problems or disciplines–you can study anything from Anthropology to Chemistry with a CS+ major.

That’s not all though–UIUC’s CS department is also strong in the more traditional areas of computer science. Students can also choose from three standard CS degrees–UIUC offers Computer Science, Mathematics & Computer Science, and Statistics & Computer Science. Students can also choose to matriculate into one of UIUC’s graduate-level CS programs upon completing their undergraduate years.

UIUC’s professors have produced some of the most important CS research over the last decade, but they also show a unique devotion to their students. While researching this post we found many examples of UIUC professors going above and beyond to help potential students–they just seem to love answering questions on and . UIUC professors are nicer than your average bunch: they’re committed to both their students and their research.

So what are these kind professors telling us? that UIUC’s CS department is particularly strong in systems and AI. He’s right–they’re ranked in Systems and in AI, and students can choose from a variety of courses in these subject areas. Wade also highlights the flexibility available to UIUC CS undergrads: the CS major has a lower number of course requirements than most, allowing students to specialize with electives.

In short, UIUC’s CS department has excelled in just about every area–teaching, research, outcomes, etc–and just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. We think that it’s time for that to change.

If you’re interested in pursuing a CS major but unsure of how to proceed, we’re always here to help.

Contact us here if you need help with the college application process