Pact guarantees law school seats for honors students

The Honors College and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law announced a partnership that will provide guaranteed seats for UIC graduates in the law school.

The new program is part of UIC’s highly competitive Guaranteed Professional Program Admission (GPPA), which admits selected first-year students to UIC with guaranteed admission to a professional degree program. UIC offers 24 GPPA programs in 11 colleges, including law, medicine, pharmacy and dentistry.

Most GPPA students are enrolled in the UIC Honors College and the college of their major.

The UIC-IIT Chicago-Kent program is open to applications from current UIC undergraduates and new freshmen, making it the first GPPA program to offer a guaranteed admission option to returning students.

“We are pleased to offer prospective and current students this prestigious pathway to a career in law,” said Bette Bottoms, dean of the Honors College and professor of psychology.

“This program allows academically motivated students to continue challenging themselves as undergraduates with the comfort of knowing that the next step in their educational journey is secure, as long as they continue their outstanding performance.”

Starting in the 2014-2015 academic year, students will have several options for entrance to the program:

• Prospective incoming freshmen can apply through the Common Application.
• Freshman students completing their second semester at UIC, who meet the minimum eligibility requirements, can apply beginning summer 2015.
• For 2014 only, eligible UIC sophomores in their third semester at UIC can apply by Dec. 15.

Students who enter UIC through GPPA apply to the program of their choice when seeking admission. They must submit a personal statement about their planned profession and their qualifications.

To stay in the GPPA program, students must fulfill requirements to prepare them for their chosen graduate or professional school. Honors College students must also maintain a 3.4 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and complete special honors activities, including a senior thesis.

The new program is not the first collaboration between the two institutions. The UIC School of Public Health and IIT Chicago-Kent offer a coordinated program leading to Juris Doctor and Master of Public Health degrees.

“We have been blessed with wonderful students from UIC in the past and look forward to even more in the future,” said Harold J. Krent, IIT Chicago-Kent dean and professor.