Our goal: to increase the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025. 

Featured Articles

1. Article number 1 - Welcome!
2. Article number 2 - Illinois Applies for $35m for Early Learning
3. Article number 3 - College Changes Everything Conference - July 11
4. Article number 4 - A MILLION REASONS WHY
5. Article number 5 - Illinois Pathways Announcement
6. Article number 6 - Illinois Awarded $43M in Race to the Top Funds

• Welcome!

  The Illinois P-20 Council is working to improve birth to adulthood education in Illinois, to maximize students' educational attainment, opportunities for success in the workforce, and contributions to their local communities.

  The 30-member Council, appointed by the Governor, includes business leaders, teachers, union leaders, faculty, school board members, parents, and representatives of private colleges, universities, community colleges, foundations, and state education and workforce agencies. Four legislators are appointed to the Council by the Illinois House and Senate majority and minority leaders. We invite you to join in the work of improving our Illinois education system, and to explore the resources available on this website.

  Miguel del Valle, Chair of the Illinois P-20 Council

• Illinois Applies for $35m for Early Learning

  United States Department of Education and the Department of Health & Human Services jointly announced on April 9, 2012 that an additional $133M will be available to the next five highest scoring states including Illinois. Each eligible state may apply for up to half of their original award which means that Illinois could stand to receive up to $35M in funds to support early learning. Read our proposal here!

• College Changes Everything Conference - July 11

  College Changes Everything™ is a College Access Movement initiated by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). Its goal is to tell a story: how postsecondary education changes lives.

  Please join ISAC on July 11 in Tinley Park for the third statewide College Changes Everything conference to support Illinois as it works to reach its goal to increase the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by the year 2025. Registration is now open at the conference website!

• A MILLION REASONS WHY

  A MILLION REASONS WHY is the slogan for a campaign launched in June by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). The slogan is multifaceted: There are nearly a million students per year educated through our colleges, millions of alumni who have attended our colleges, and millions of individual reasons why our students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members chose their community college as the place to be educated, to work and to play. The campaign seeks to create advocates who will passionately communicate that with our Illinois Community Colleges, there literally are "A MILLION REASONS WHY." By creating awareness of the strengths of our system, ICCB plans to generate scholarship funds to be distributed to Illinois community college students. Please “like” our Facebook page and visit the ICCB website to learn more about the campaign or to order t-shirts.

• Illinois Pathways Announcement

  The P-20 Council is happy to share that the Illinois Pathways Initiative was launched on February 9 in Bloomington at State Farm's headquarters and awards were announced on September 14. The Pathways program, which features tailored coursework and on the job experience for students through public-private partnerships in 9 key P-20 STEM areas, was originally conceived in the State's Race to the Top application. To learn how more about Pathways and how your school, college, or business can join a local network to support the education to employment pipeline click the header to learn more!

• Illinois Awarded $43M in Race to the Top Funds

  Illinois was selected as one of just seven states to receive a portion of $200M available in federal funds through the second round of the Race to the Top competition. Illinois will be awarded $42.8M to support Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education as well as other efforts to alleviate the achievement gap through this program administered by the US Dept. of Education. The money will be used for a variety of projects including implementation of the new rigorous Common Core Learning Standards, advancement of teacher and principal effectiveness through professional development and mentoring opportunities, and provision of data to educators to improve and inform classroom instruction.