An Extraordinary Education

The Elevate Program

Elevate is a hub that connects Illinois Tech students with hundreds of internship and learning opportunities offered both on and off campus. Elevate experiences prepare students to succeed as professionals—to lead, create, innovate, think boldly, and be a change-maker.

The one-of-a-kind Elevate Program guarantees that our students take part in outside-the-classroom experiences such as internships, research, study away, and competitions. It also provides personalized academic and career mentorship, all in pursuit of ensuring that our students graduate career-ready.

Through Elevate, Illinois Tech students from every major can study abroad in six continents (all except Antarctica). 

For more information, visit the Elevate Program website: elevateyourfuture.iit.edu

Interprofessional Projects Program (IPRO)

The Interprofessional Projects Program (IPRO) brings together students from different academic disciplines to work as a team to tackle a real-world problem. 

IPRO is an undergraduate program that helps you build teamwork, innovation, and complex problem-solving skills. The program has been running since 1995. IPRO courses at Illinois Tech have been teaching students how to excel in the workplace by providing the practical tools that can make a difference in their professional and personal lives.

Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship 

Illinois Tech is dedicated to providing students with an education that inspires technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the twenty-first century. 

The Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship provides a dynamic environment for the community to approach critical thinking in state-of-the-art spaces with contemporary tools to help creativity flourish.

With the aid of its faculty and staff, the Kaplan Institute has emerged as a hub where students will become the leaders, inventors, and entrepreneurs of the future, focused on bold thinking and transforming new ideas into products and processes. The mission of the institute is to nurture the advancement of critical and creative ideas, foster interdisciplinary and external collaboration, and create a culture that enables innovation and tech entrepreneurship to flourish. It features workshops, media labs, classrooms, collaborative hubs, emerging technologies, and maker spaces.

Outstanding Research

Illinois Tech—home of the country’s first research nuclear reactor and the nation’s first functional microgrid—is known for advanced research that is moving the needle toward significant innovation.

With research on topics ranging from robotics to genomics and big data to urban sustainability, Illinois Tech is investigating tomorrow’s grand challenges through a tech lens. A rich array of projects in the field and the lab, robust mentorship, and access to world-class facilities support the Illinois Tech research community and enable the next generation of researchers to explore their bold ideas.

Working in the U.S.: Optional Practical Training (OPT)

You can stay in the United States and work after your degree. This is called Optional Practical Training (OPT). It is temporary employment, directly related to an F-1 student’s major. Under the OPT scheme, eligible international students can receive permission to work up to 12 months.

STEM Extension

You can extend your OPT for an additional 24 months if you have studied a Department of Homeland Security-approved STEM field.