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The following guest column written by UIS Director of Financial Assistance Laci Englbrecht was published by The State Journal-Register on Oct. 6, 2023.

"The University of Illinois Springfield recognizes the importance of making a college education accessible and affordable to all of our students. As the financial aid director at UIS, I am committed to helping educate students and parents about the resources that are available to support their educational journey.

The following story was broadcast by WAND-TV on Oct. 4, 2023.

"The University of Illinois Springfield is launching the Prairie Promise, a new four-year financial aid program for Illinois residents that will fully cover the cost of tuition and fees for first-time, first-year undergraduate students enrolled full time in on-campus degree programs starting in Fall 2024.

The Prairie Promise will use MAP grant awards, UIS scholarships and awards and AIM HIGH grant funds to cover the cost of tuition and fees.

The following story was broadcast by WAND-TV on Oct. 2, 2023.

"Monday is National Wrongful Conviction Day and the Illinois Innocence Project hosted an initiative at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield.

Interns and student volunteers placed 3,348 flags at the UIS Quad, which represent the number of wrongfully convicted people who have been exonerated since 1989. 514 of those flags specifically represent Illinoisans who have been exonerated in that time.

The following story was broadcast by WAND-TV on Sept. 25, 2023.

"Dozens of backpacks hung on display in the quad at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield on Monday.

Each backpack had pieces of paper attached to it, which shared the story of someone's experience with suicide. Some of them were written by family members after they lost a loved one to suicide, others were written by those who attempted to take their own life.

The following story was broadcast by WICS-TV 20 on Sept. 18, 2023.

"The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) has been ranked the top public regional university in Illinois for a fifth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report in 2024 Best Colleges rankings.

UIS was also ranked the sixth-best public regional university in the Midwest regional category.

The following story was broadcast by WCIA-TV 3 on Sept. 14, 2023.

"When you think of playing sports, you probably think of a basketball court. For some students at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield, it’s a new esports gaming arena.

'It’s been a project, probably about four years in the making,' said Jay Swenson, the school’s assistant director of campus recreations. 'We visited other schools, tried to see what their models were and we kind of took what we liked from all of them.'

The following story was published by The State Journal-Register on Sept. 11, 2023.

"For the second consecutive year, enrollment at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield has gone up, this time a 11% surge, school officials reported Monday.

A total of 4,661 students were enrolled for the fall semester, up from 4,198 students last year.

The campus saw increases this year in the number of freshman and transfer students.

A top administrator is out as HSHS continues to deal with fallout from cyberattack

The following story was broadcast by WAND-TV on Sept. 6, 2023.

"Today ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield debuted a cutting edge facility for its esports team. It comes as the National Esports Collegiate Conference is exploding in popularity, now governing 237 American college esports teams.

The following story was published by The State Journal-Register on Sept. 6, 2023.

"Who hasn't looked up at the night sky and pondered a thought or two?

'One of the few things we have in common (as human beings) is an experience with the night sky,' said John Martin, an associate professor of astronomy/physics at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield. 'We experience it differently today than people did 20,000 years ago.

'What are the stages for kids growing up? It's dinosaurs first, then outer space. It's something that captures our imagination, that way."

I am delighted to share the remarkable news that ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Springfield's online Master’s in Human Services program has achieved an impressive 4th place in