One might say the University of Illinois was founded by Abraham Lincoln — by signing into law the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862, he helped create the system of land-grant universities. As one of the original such universities, Illinois opened its flagship campus in downstate Urbana in 1867.
Today, the university operates on three campuses — the main one in Urbana-Champaign and satellites in Springfield and Chicago, with a total enrollment of nearly 80,000 students and an operating budget of $5.6 billion.
