UIC History

UIC College Prep, the LSV campus of the Noble Network of Charter Schools opened its doors to a freshmen class of 180 students in August 2008. Our success has been made possible due to the generosity of our partners, the University of Illinois at Chicago and LSV Asset Management.

As a response to low minority enrollment in their medical programs, the University of Illinois at Chicago was in search of a partner to create a school that would support minority students interested in pursuing an education in the health field. On a similar mission was Josef Lakonishok, the founder of LSV Asset Management. An immigrant to the U.S. who benefited from public education, Mr. Lakonishok was interested in supporting students from under resourced communities in receiving a quality high school education that would prepare them for their pursuits of higher education. The vision of founding staff and Principal, Oliver Sicat, to prepare students from under resourced communities to give back to their community after their collegiate success, attracted both partners to support the founding of UIC College Prep.

Both of these partnerships have been integral in making UIC College Prep the highest performing non-selective school in the city of Chicago.

As partners with the University of Illinois at Chicago our staff receive support to create a rigorous college prep curriculum specifically tailored to our students. Students have the opportunity to take college level courses with college professors, get explicit feedback during their junior year for their college application process, and as long as students stay on track and meet academic requirements for high school graduation, they are guaranteed a seat at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

LSV Asset Management has been a great supporter of our students as they have met with different students for lunch, attend town halls, special events and ceremonies. LSV also fund amazing opportunities for our students including our yearly school musical, offering summer internships for our students, matching fundraising efforts for the school trips to Rome and Spain, and most recently offering two of our graduating seniors $20, 000 college scholarships.

Thanks to the generosity of our partners, UIC College Prep is fostering the development of our students with rich experiences and a high quality education that prepares them to successfully graduate from college and then use their college degrees to make a positive multigenerational change.