Students build a circuitboard during an electrical engineering lab

Experiential Learning

It’s time to get doing.

Action-oriented, immersive experiences define the Illinois Tech education. We’re one-of-a-kind, and our hands-on programs prove it. From Illinois Tech’s one-of-a-kind Elevate program to our distinctive project-based courses in the Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program to high-tech maker spaces and cutting-edge research, we prepare you to think big and lead big like no other university can. And it all begins in your first year of study.

Active Learning Programs

Active learning

Our one-of-a-kind Elevate program guarantees you hands-on experiences like internship, research, and study away opportunities, plus mentorship and a personalized career plan, to help you achieve your professional goals.

IPRO

An Illinois Tech bragging right for 26 years, the IPRO Program mimics real-world project teams, challenging you to work with your fellow students to address issues that matter.

Active learning

Our on-campus innovation hub gives you access to advanced tools and training programs that will prepare you to create new products and think like a tech leader.

Active learning

Our state-of-the-art maker space is equipped with the tools you need to turn your ideas into reality.

Active learning

Illinois Tech’s distinctive leadership training program teaches you how to be an effective leader and team member, offering courses, retreats, and a certificate option.

IFSH students study food bacteria samples in a lab

When it comes to research at Illinois Tech, it’s all about access. Students can work on research projects in as early as year one. Opportunities abound through our Elevate program, individual colleges and schools, our Office of Research, academic student groups, and more.

“By taking part in the Museum of Science and Industry volunteer and intern program (available exclusively to Illinois Tech students), I discovered my passion and aptitude for education. I would have never realized how much I value helping others learn without this experience.”

—Henry White (Aerospace Engineering 4th Year), Mosca, Colorado

“The Armour R&D Summer Immersion Program was an awesome experience where I worked with a professor in BME on a team of upperclassman to create a software toolbox to better help surgeons analyze images in FGS.”

—Monica Bhagavan (Biomedical Engineering 4th Year), Westmont, Illinois

“Illinois Tech has the resources of the city, its supporters, its staff, its alumni, and students that are unparalleled to other universities in the area. The hands-on learning that Illinois Tech offers leads you to discover yourself to solve problems in creative fashions that not only apply to the problem at hand, but to everything you do from here on out.”

—Andrew Jiang (Architecture ’20), Madison, Wisconsin

“The experience that I learned in the student group Stuart Investments helped me land my current internship. During my interview, the corporation was extremely interested in the work we do in Stuart Investments. Illinois Tech provided this unique opportunity that allowed me to stand out compared to other applicants.”

—Mohamed Shamel (Business/M.S. Finance 5th Year), Cairo, Egypt