Soon, applicants to the University of Illinois will learn that they’ll be among the best and brightest invited to become an Illini! Some of them will be ready to sign on the dotted line, while for many others, this selection may loom large against some “seemingly” attractive options.

While we are naturally a bit biased, we want to give you our top five reasons for choosing Illinois.

Reason #1: Illinois is an incredible value!

Did you know Illinois is ranked #1 on return on investment in the Big Ten (Payscale), has the 2^nd highest average mid-career salaries in the Big Ten (Payscale), and it’s a Top-25 U.S. university for your money (Money Magazine)? With the rising cost of education, it’s important to find a place not only of quality, but one that can lead you to a better future.

Reason #2: Our alumni network is awesome!

Looking for a great network for friend and jobs? There are almost 500,000 living alumni living around the world, representing all kinds of industries, proudly associated with the University of Illinois. Trust us, this network helps each other, and wherever you want to go and whatever you want to do, there’s an Illini who is happy to help you succeed.

Reason #3: Jobs that look for you!

The main reason you come to college is to be well prepared for your jobs.  The great thing is, companies love hiring illini! Each year, nearly 10,000 unique employees pursue Illinois students to work with them including incredible companies like Google, Facebook, IBM, Walmart, GE and more! They know Illinois students are some of the best educated and well-prepared for the opportunities ahead.

Reason #4: We launch future leaders!

Does your child have an entrepreneurial spark? Feel like they need to have an environment that supports their ideas and dreams? Illinois is the place! From entrepreneurial majors to funded start-up competitions, students have the ability to make their ideas real — just like successful companies founded by Illinois students including Mozilla, Tesla, Yelp, PayPal, YouTube and many more.

Reason #5: Connections

We know you want your child to build a network of lifetime friends at school. At Illinois, there are more than 50,000 students on campus, representing every state, and more than 100 countries. In addition, there are more than 1,800 student clubs and organizations available covering every interest possible. As Illini dads, not only do we have current (and alumni) Illini kids, but many of us are graduates, too! We can all agree, some of our lifelong connections (and even a few life partners) began on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

We know your child will have some serious soul searching in the days and weeks ahead, and their ultimate decision may rest with factors not even listed here. However, we believe there’s no greater feeling than being part of an incredible institution such as the University of Illinois and everything we’ve listed and more!

Good luck on their decision, and we hope to hear them yell “I-L-L” very soon!

(source: https://admissions.illinois.edu/Discover/illinois-facts)