University of Illinois system
The history of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign dates back to 1862. U of I (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois, UIUC, or simply Illinois) is a public research-intensive university in the U.S. state of Illinois. A land-grant university, it is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign opened on March 2, 1868 and is the second oldest public university in the state (after Illinois State University), and is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference.