Millikin University

Millikin students learn by providing an education that combines theory with practice and graduate with the experience and confidence to succeed.

Millikin is an independent, four year university that is privately funded and has an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students in traditional and non-traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Located in Decatur, Illinois, you will quickly discover that the signature of a Millikin education is a unique experience we like to call Performance Learning.

Since its founding more than 110 years ago, Millikin has operated under the philosophy of providing an education that combines theory with practice. While this was a radical idea at the time, we know today that practice is not enough.

Today's students must perform their knowledge in order to be truly prepared for a successful career after college. Through immersive experiences such as internships, co-teaching, running a business, presenting research to experts, and performing in front of audiences – students find new ways to live out their learning and reap the rewards of their hard work.

Millikin University has been true to its founding vision for 100 years. Our students learn through real-world projects that reinforce classroom experiences, help develop practical skills, and express the University's responsibility to the community. They learn to see connections with other academic disciplines to demonstrate the diversity of human experience, the interactions between technology and society...And they learn about themselves and others, developing a respect for differences and for the dignity of all.

Our vision is "Millikin University is the national leader in Performance Learning."

Our passions may be different, but our goals are the same: academic success, career preparation, and personal growth. Millikin University provides you with the tools needed to succeed in each of these areas. Obviously academics are central to your college experience, but college is so much more than that. We understand that you have needs and interests that extend beyond the classroom and we are committed to providing a supportive environment that helps you focus on what's important.

From housing to student organizations, and from mock interviews to intramural sports teams, Millikin has options that will make you feel at home. We believe Millikin is a unique institution and a wonderful place for international students to study. The Millikin family is an accessible learning community, where you can discover and pursue your full potential, personally and professionally. Millikin offers a broad choice of majors and minors, pre-professional programs, and Exploratory Studies, which allows you up to a year to explore and focus your academic and career interests.

Millikin University is proud to be a Pathway University of the Global Assessment Certificate (GAC), the world’s most recognized university preparation program for students with English as a second language. As a GAC Pathway University, Millikin offers transfer credits to GAC students who have successfully completed specific GAC modules.

In 1901, Millikin University was founded by self-made businessman and philanthropist, James Millikin. Millikin, who started as a farmer and achieved success within the real estate and banking industries during the 19th century, sought to create an institution of higher learning that was open to all and that integrated the traditional liberal arts along with the practical arts of the professions.

From Day One, Millikin’s theory-practice approach to education was unique. Today, Millikin takes this idea a step further with Performance Learning. Students in every area of study are able to participate in various classes, programs, projects, and performances that engage them in ways in which they’ll receive practical, hands-on experience that they can’t receive anywhere else.

At Millikin, students get a real taste of things to come in their careers – they don’t just know what to do, but they also know how to do it. Last year, 98.6% of students who graduated from Millikin found employment or went on to graduate or professional studies within six months of graduation. On average, the annual salary a graduate of Millikin can expect during the early years of their career is reported to be $41,100.

Millikin is a private university, but private doesn’t have to mean unaffordable. Each year, Millikin gives away nearly $36.5 million in aid, and if that’s a difficult amount to imagine, consider that the average financial aid package offered to incoming students is about $15,000. A variety of scholarships are available to students based on their level of academic achievement, creative talent, commitment to public service, and financial need. Awards range from $500 up to the full cost of tuition.

What James Millikin envisioned when he founded Millikin University in 1901 was unique: a university that would embrace the "practical" side of learning along with the "literary and classical;" and, while affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it would not be narrowly "sectarian" and would remain open to all. The result is one of the nation's first small, comprehensive universities that, a century later, has three professional schools and one for the liberal arts and sciences; a well-rounded university where programs in classical music vie in excellence with those in accounting and the health sciences.