VICE Ranks Three Illinois Schools Among Nations Most “Militarized”

VICE News has published an investigation of American universities with ties to the military, police, and intelligence communities. Southern Illinois University in Carbondale ranked number 23, due to the number of alums who work in “top secret” jobs. The amount of funding SIU receives from national security and defense agencies was another factor.

Rae Goldsmith, SIU’s public information officer, was surprised VICE calls the school “militarized,” but appreciates the ranking.

“From our perspective as an institution, this is not a negative," she says. "It is something that is historically part of our mission that we’re very proud of.”

Goldsmith says the ranking shows that SIU offers “relevant degrees that meet workforce needs and serve members of our military community – veterans and active duty”.

SIU has an engineering school, a business school and a cyber-security program that could prepare students for careers related to the military.

Two other state institutions made the list: Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were ranked numbers 80 and 83 respectively.