Since 2010, UIC has been federally-designated as a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) -- a U.S. Department of Education status given to universities that serve high enrollments of racial and ethnic minority and low-income students. That same year, UIC was designated an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and has received three grants totaling $5.4 million in support of its AANAPISI Initiative.
In 2016, a five-year, $5.3 million grant from the Department of Education affirmed UIC’s designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). The grant supports UIC’s efforts to increase the number of Latino/a and low-income students attaining degrees in STEM fields.