Mission
Mission Statement
To empower students by providing personal growth and educational opportunities and to prepare leaders who will make individual and collective contributions toward the cultural and social advancement of the Latino community.
Introduction
The Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services program has been in existence since 1975. Since then, the program has grown from approximately 100 students to its present enrollment of more than 3300. LARES was established to assist UIC in the recruitment of Latino students and to provide academic support to increase their chances for success.
LARES is the premier Latino academic support program in Illinois and the largest academic support unit on the UIC campus. Over the years, UIC has become the major center for Latino education in the Midwest, granting the largest number of baccalaureate degrees and enrolling the largest numbers of Latino graduate and professional students among CIC institutions.
UIC Latinx students are well represented in local and national scholarship programs as well as special opportunity efforts targeted for minority students. UIC Latino students continue to rank number one in the number of Hispanic Scholarship awarded in the Midwest. Moreover, Latinx graduation rates have steadily increased at UIC over the last few years.
In order to fulfill the mission of the program, LARES has developed numerous initiatives that attempt to address the comprehensive needs of students. LARES establishes its own independent projects, cooperates with other units on initiatives and also acts as a referral point, directing students to appropriate University offices. Through this three-pronged approach, Latino undergraduates are encouraged and supported through the pursuit of their academic goals.