University of Illinois' new medical school at its flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign took another big step forward, earning preliminary accreditation that allows it to accept applications for its first class.
The Carle Illinois College of Medicine is a partnership between U of I and Carle Health System hospital in Champaign. The goal is to pair the U of I's prestigious College of Engineering with a medical school, addressing an increased demand for researchers and doctors with both technical and medical skills for fields such as biomedicine. Advances in materials science and computer engineering have opened the door to implantable devices that can help treat patients by producing real-time data.
The university said it is now recruiting 32 students for its first class, which will start in July. All of the students will receive four-year scholarships, funded by private donors. Tuition ranges from about $47,000 a year for in-state students to $59,000 for out-of-state students.
The school, approved two years ago, is not without controversy. Funding for universities has been growing increasingly tight, especially in Illinois because of the state's self-inflicted budget woes. U of I already operates the nation's largest public medical school, with its primary campus in Chicago.
"U of I's new med school taking applications" originally appeared in Crain's Chicago Business.
