WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Macomb, Ill., U.S. It is part of Illinois' Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities system. The university comprises colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Technologies, Education and Human Services, and Fine Arts and Communications. It offers about 50 bachelor's and more than 30 master's degree programs. The university operates the Rock Island Regional Undergraduate Center in Moline. Research facilities include the Frank J. Horn Field Campus, the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, and the Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Station on the Mississippi River. Total enrollment is approximately 13,000. The university was established in 1899 as Western Illinois Normal School. Instruction began in 1902. The school evolved into a four-year teachers college in 1921. It became Western Illinois State College in 1947 and was made a university in 1957.