Illinois Tech Purpose Scholarship
Since 1890, Illinois Tech has maintained its commitment to providing students from all backgrounds with a world-class education in STEM and other innovative fields. This includes breaking down financial barriers that prevent many students from obtaining a college degree.
Our Illinois Tech Purpose scholarship program covers 100 percent* of a student’s undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees through a combination of institutional aid combined with federal and state grants. This special scholarship puts the dream of receiving a bachelor’s degree from Chicago’s premier tech-focused university within reach for students from across Illinois.
Benefits of Illinois Tech Purpose
A college degree remains a leading indicator of life-long career success and earnings. Yet for many students, attending college comes with multiple challenges: college preparedness, cost, lack of access to resume-building experiences that magnify the impact of a college degree, and the need for a supportive community that enables them to live up to their full potential.
Illinois Tech addresses those challenges.
- Illinois Tech Purpose significantly reduces the financial burden for students, allowing them to focus more efforts on their coursework and less on paying for their education.
- Our one-of-a-kind Elevate program guarantees students access to real-world experiences that build their career readiness and prepare them for a lifetime of professional success.
- Illinois Tech’s close-knit community and network of student services including advisers, peer mentors, academic tutoring, career counselors, and more provides students with the unified, holistic support they need to navigate the complexities of college life.
Our Commitment: Your Outcomes
Illinois Tech graduates enjoy some of the best career outcomes in the country. Illinois Tech Purpose only builds upon this success by ensuring that more students can access a high-quality STEM education, which is a gateway to amazing career opportunities. We are:
- #1 in the state of Illinois for the best salaries of our graduates (Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2025)
- #1 in Illinois and #20 in the nation for high earnings and economic mobility in a college rankings tool created by the New York Times (2023)
- One of 28 universities to be named as an American Talent Initiative High-Flier for providing college access and success to students with the greatest financial need
- Among the leading universities whose graduates have a low loan default rate, indicating our affordability relative to the high earnings of our graduates
- #35 among the top U.S. colleges with the greatest economic diversity (New York Times)
- #1 in Illinois, #32 in the nation for lifting students from families in the bottom 20% of income to the top 20% (Opportunity Insights)
- #29 in the nation among Best Value Schools (U.S News & World Report 2025)
Eligibility Requirements
No separate scholarship application is required. If you meet the criteria below, we guarantee you will receive the Illinois Tech Purpose scholarship:
- Be a United States citizen or permanent resident, or meet the undocumented student criteria of the RISE Act
- Be a resident of the state of Illinois for at least one year prior to enrollment and qualify for the Monetary Award Program (MAP) grant
- Submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application) each year and complete the verification process with the Office of Financial Aid
- Have a family adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less
- Maintain good academic standing while attending Illinois Tech and be enrolled as a full-time degree seeking student each fall and spring semester
- Be a new first-year student and:
- Apply by November 15 under Illinois Tech’s early action plan
- Have a minimum 3.7 unweighted overall grade-point average upon applying to Illinois Tech
- Be among the top 10 percent of your high school class; or
- Be a new transfer student under the age of 24 and:
- Apply by March 15
- Have a minimum 3.4 overall grade-point average
- Earned no more than 61 credits at a previous institution
- Must be earning your bachelor’s degree for the first time
*What Illinois Tech Purpose Covers
The Illinois Tech Purpose scholarship covers 100 percent of a student’s tuition and mandatory fees for up to four years of undergraduate study at Illinois Tech—five years for architecture students—after federal and state grants and any existing Illinois Tech institutional scholarships.
The scholarship covers costs for the bachelor’s degree program only. If a student chooses to continue their education and pursue an accelerated master’s degree at Illinois Tech, they can apply their original Heald Scholarship award toward their tuition for graduate-level courses at the undergraduate tuition rate.