UIC-Chicago State combining?

[MontanaVandal]

Is there any possibility with the crap going on at Chicago State, that Illinois moves to combine UIC and Chicago State? Could this mean a possible upgrade in the MVC/Horizon footprint?

[DFW HOYA]

CSU is a mess, but it takes an act of Congress to close a state school these days, no matter how bad.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-state-university-vallas-leadership-20170327-story.html (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-state-university-vallas-leadership-20170327-story.html)

[ST_Lawson]

Is there any possibility with the crap going on at Chicago State, that Illinois moves to combine UIC and Chicago State? Could this mean a possible upgrade in the MVC/Horizon footprint?

I'd say HIGHLY unlikely. Chicago State is much more likely to merge with Governors State and/or NEIU...or close down completely. UIC is a much different type of university and I doubt that the U of I system would ever let UIC merge with CSU. Also, UIC doesn't need it...they're doing "fine" (as fine as any public Il university can be doing right now).


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[GodHelpTheBears]

I'd say HIGHLY unlikely. Chicago State is much more likely to merge with Governors State and/or NEIU...or close down completely. UIC is a much different type of university and I doubt that the U of I system would ever let UIC merge with CSU. Also, UIC doesn't need it...they're doing "fine" (as fine as any public Il university can be doing right now).


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Isn't Chicago State an HBCU? I know other states like Louisiana and Georgia have run into serious heat when their state legislatures debated merging HBCUs into general state universities. I imagine the state will do everything it can to prop it up without having to bite into that pepper.

[ST_Lawson]

Isn't Chicago State an HBCU? I know other states like Louisiana and Georgia have run into serious heat when their state legislatures debated merging HBCUs into general state universities. I imagine the state will do everything it can to prop it up without having to bite into that pepper.

Chicago State is not technically classified as an HBCU: https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/
It is, however, a "Predominantly Black Institution" and a MSI (Minority Serving Institution): https://www2.ed.gov/programs/pbihea/awards.html
And it is currently 95% minorities: https://www.csu.edu/IER/universityprofile.htm (I don't know what percentage of that is black vs hispanic, asian, etc., but from what I do know about the school, I'd have to imagine that a significant majority are black).

There are no HBCU's in Chicago, although if you take a look at that map linked to from the second link, you'll see that Chicago does have 5 other Predominantly Black Institutions, although they are all community colleges.

There are three other state universities in the Chicago area, Governor's State (~6k students, in far southern suburbs), Northeastern Illinois University (~9.5k students, north side of Chicago) and U of I Chicago. CSU, GSU and NEIU are fairly small "regional" universities. UIC, on the other hand, is a pretty large-scale research institution with an enrollment of slightly under 30k. It's ranked #152 in National Universities on US News and World Report's List (tied with Illinois State).

So, Chicago State and Governor's State (which itself is..as of 2014, 51% minority and 38.5% black) are probably the best candidates for a merger. They could merge the two, keep the two campuses, but close some overlap of courses and probably quite a bit of overlap of administration). They'd still have a very heavily minority (over 50% black if you combine to current two student populations) enrollment, so they could probably keep the "MSI" status, and any of the associated opportunities.

EDIT - CSU and GSU are also relatively close to each other...about 35 minutes down I-57, or a roughly 45-minute ride on the Metra ME Line (95th Street to University Park): https://metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/ME/map

[ASU33]

Isn't Chicago State an HBCU? I know other states like Louisiana and Georgia have run into serious heat when their state legislatures debated merging HBCUs into general state universities. I imagine the state will do everything it can to prop it up without having to bite into that pepper.

No

[GodHelpTheBears]

No

Its student mix still leans heavily minority. Semantics aside (and yes, I was wrong, you're right, neg rep me, ban me, spam my inbox, post all of my prior comments in the joke thread, etc), they still serve a minority-majority student body, and closing the school would be a political death sentence.

I assume their situation will be handled with care.

[walliver]

Do either of them play football at FCS level?

[Laker]

Do either of them play football at FCS level?

Neither play football at all.

[ASU33]

Its student mix still leans heavily minority. Semantics aside (and yes, I was wrong, you're right, neg rep me, ban me, spam my inbox, post all of my prior comments in the joke thread, etc), they still serve a minority-majority student body, and closing the school would be a political death sentence.

I assume their situation will be handled with care.

I doubt it. Chicago State doesn't hold that type of stature fore their be a widespread outrage. There maybe local people upset but this isn't exactly Morehouse we're talking about.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Is there any possibility with the crap going on at Chicago State, that Illinois moves to combine UIC and Chicago State? Could this mean a possible upgrade in the MVC/Horizon footprint?

Hey MV, this particular board (FCS Discussion) is pretty much for FCS Football stuff only. I will move this to "other sports" but wanted to let you know.xthumbsupx