College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Annual Report ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-2026
ANNUAL REPORT
Introduction As you’ll see in the annual report, the LAS student body has grown this year—a welcome development! As the largest college at UIC, LAS is home to a staggering array of majors and minors—from English to math to sociology to applied psychology. The word is out: curious and capable students come to LAS!
Dear Colleagues and Friends of LAS, This past academic year made me proud to lead the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UIC. From our students to our faculty to our staff, the many initiatives, studies, and investigations undertaken every day by LAS fill me with awe. In uncertain and unsettling times, I am comforted by the knowledge that LAS continues to set the bar high in research, community engagement, and classroom experience.
In spite of the challenging federal research funding landscape, our faculty continue to excel in their fields, winning prizes and awards and discovering new ways of seeing the world, from the nano-scale to the macro-scale. Our expenditures and monies awarded were both up in 2025, and the long-awaited Drug Discovery and Cancer Research Pavilion will begin breaking ground in the coming year, enabling still more path-blazing and life-saving research and collaboration at UIC. Our research excellence, so integral to the LAS mission, was on display once again for the sixth LAS Faculty Research Symposium, held on April 13, 2026 in Student 2
Center East. This symposium showcased the academic breadth and depth of the historians, political scientists, and cultural scholars in LAS and gave attendees a chance to learn about what the Declaration of Independence meant in its original context and what it means today. (We even attracted the attention of ABC7!) Our academic year culminated once again in a moving and lively celebration of our graduates at Commencement. LAS alumna and multiple award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor delivered an address that our graduates will not soon forget. “Be ready to move with what comes,” she exhorted them. That is good advice not only for recent graduates, but for us as well. In LAS, we are ready. As always, thank you for being part of our LAS community. Yours, Lisa A. Freeman Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
ANNUAL REPORT ACADEMIC YEAR 2025-26
Fast Facts 9,509
1,173
25
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
GRADUATE STUDENTS
DEPARTMENTS
40+
42
43
UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS
MINORS
GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
1600+ COURSES
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ANNUAL REPORT
Research As Chicago's public research university, the University of Illinois Chicago offers many unique opportunities for undergraduates to conduct ground-breaking research with faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) and across the university. Being a Research I institution means that students are mentored by skilled faculty who bring pioneering and cutting-edge research into the classroom. LAS undergraduates are involved in research projects that expand their learning, build their problem-solving skills, and open doors for career opportunities. LAS supports and promotes research across a wide array of disciplines, ranging from the humanities to applied and basic sciences. Cross-disciplinary and pioneering in its approaches and methodologies, the strength of our research lies in the many tools and perspectives that, together, shed new light on critical cultural, social, and scientific issues.
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ANNUAL REPORT
Research Expenditures FY 2026:
$42.5 MILLION
Research Funding Awarded FY 2026:
$25.1 MILLION
VIEW MORE RESEARCH NEWS IN THE LAS FACULTY RESEARCH BULLETIN
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ANNUAL REPORT
LAS Faculty Research Symposium Declarations of Independence: Who Are The People? The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) hosted Declarations of Independence: Who Are The People?, a day-long interdisciplinary symposium that brought together faculty, graduate students, visiting scholars, and community members to explore the evolving meanings of freedom, citizenship, and democracy. Held in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the event featured dynamic conversations, faculty research panels, and interactive activities that examined who has been included in — and excluded from — the promise of “We the People” from the eighteenth century to the present. Highlights included conversations with leading historians and political theorists, UIC faculty panels on law, sovereignty, land, and revolution, and a keynote address by journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia Journalism School. Part of Illinois America 250, the symposium emphasized inclusive storytelling and local perspectives, inviting participants to reflect on how the ideals of independence continue to be debated, taught, and lived today.
VIEW MORE LAS NEWS
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ANNUAL REPORT
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ANNUAL REPORT
Student Success
83.2% OF LAS FIRST YEARS WHO BEGAN FALL 24 RETURNED FOR THEIR SECOND YEAR AT UIC (ONE-YEAR RETENTION). THIS IS A RECORD HIGH FOR LAS.
21% THE LAS FIRST-YEAR COHORT GREW BY 21%, ADDING 442 – TOTALING 2,559. 60% ARE PELL-ELIGIBLE.
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Degrees Awarded
ANNUAL REPORT
1,962
153
103
UNDERGRADUATES
MASTERS
DOCTORATES
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ANNUAL REPORT
Learning Centers LAS is home to the Math and Science Learning Center, the Writing Center, and the Language and Cultural Learning Center, which serve thousands of students on campus every year in active learning and academic support. • • • •
Over 21,000 visits to the MSLC Over 1,800 help sessions offered for the 2025-26 academic year More than 100 peer learning assistants support learning each semester The LCLC served over 700 students a week for the 2025-26 academic year
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ANNUAL REPORT
LAS 110
More than 1500 first-year students (nearly half are first-generation students) participated in LAS 110, Experience UIC, a seminar that supports students’ transition to university life and fosters a sense of belonging. LAS 110 provides students with the information they need to get involved at the start of their college careers and to connect with UIC, their classmates, and ultimately, themselves.
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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 601 S. Morgan Street, 4th floor UH Chicago, IL 60607 Phone: (312) 413-2500 las.uic.edu | lasinfo@uic.edu