Illinois is making history as the first state to offer free, comprehensive test preparation to over 200,000 students at public universities and select community colleges throughout the state, announcing the official launch of the Prepare for Illinois’ Future Program on Tuesday.
The program launched by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is in collaboration with Kaplan, an international educational service company that provides colleges, universities and businesses with educational and training services.
The “revolutionary” program, Kaplan’s Senior Vice President Dave Adams said, allows students throughout the state access to more than 40 test prep courses at no cost to them, including courses for graduate-level admissions exams for students taking the law school entrance exam, or LSAT, among other exams, as well as courses in data analytics, cybersecurity, real estate, and more.
The program is now available to all students attending any of the twelve public universities in the state, including the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, Illinois State University, University of Illinois Chicago and Western Illinois University, as well as five community colleges, including Carl Sandburg College, Joliet Junior College and Malcolm X College.
“Providing free test and licensing preparation courses for students is an important measure to help remove some of the financial barriers students face in advancing their education and careers,” ISAC Executive Director Eric Zarnikow said in a news release.
The program was spearheaded by Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, who first learned about Kaplan’s All Access Initiative at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where his daughter was enrolled.
Shocked by the program, Ford said he called Kaplan to express how impressed he was by the initiative. After he learned Howard had facilitated a partnership with Kaplan and paid for the company’s services so students could access them at no cost, Ford was told Kaplan would do the same for Illinois if a contract could be worked out.
From that moment, Ford, who is the Chairperson of the Illinois General Assembly’s Appropriations-Higher Education Committee, said he made it his mission to provide students in Illinois with the same opportunity.
“Knowing the benefits of test prep and that difference in doing well on a test is about being better prepared, I fought to get the money in the budget,” Ford said.
He was successful, securing $10 million in the FY 2024 budget to fund the program. The program will allow over 200,000 students in Illinois aiming to become licensed professionals in various fields free access to unlimited test prep for years to come.
One of the program’s many benefits is filling the gap students face as they transition from university to the workforce, according to Dave Adams, Kaplan’s senior vice president.
The costs of test preparation for licensure exams aren’t typically considered in the overall cost of higher education, which may have a price tag upwards of thousands of dollars. Needing to take and pass these exams is yet another hurdle placed in front of students aiming to access the career tracks they
“It is high-stakes testing for professional licensures and careers,” Adams said. “That’s especially daunting for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students, often rural students.”
Understanding from years of data that students are unable to pass or do well on licensure admissions tests without access to quality prep programs, Adams said Kaplan also began hearing from long-term university partners that some students were being left behind due to this opportunity gap. Asked how Kaplan could help, Adams said the company decided to open the doors to all of Kaplan’s products.
With over 40 industry-leading preparation programs available to students state-wide, Ford said this program eliminates existing barriers, allowing students to learn how to test and feel confident testing while they save money in the long run.
While some may view the program as solely about test prep, it’s more than that, according to Adams. It’s workforce development, he said.
“What we’ve seen in the past few years is that the students that can afford these products are the students who are doing well on the licensure exams,” Adams said. “They’re getting licenses earlier in their careers because they can pay for the prep and pay for the license, they’re going to graduate school in larger numbers… because they’re doing well on the admissions exams. But now… 200,000 students in the state of Illinois now have the same access that everybody else has.”
Western Illinois University was among five universities in the state to roll out the program earlier this month. Justin Schuche, the university’s vice president of student success, said the rollout process has been remarkably effective.
It’s been a little over a week since the program launched and Schuche said the reaction from students has been “overwhelmingly positive.” With 55 students already registered for services through Kaplan, Schuche said it’s clear there’s a need for the program and has already allowed participating students to save over $45,000.
The program will not only have long-term benefits for students, allowing them to be better prepared for well-paying jobs across several fields, but it will also save thousands of dollars on expenses associated with test prep and will also benefit the state as well, Ford said.
Through this, students will be able to take their licensure exams following graduation and join the workforce at a quicker pace, rather than having to wait due to being unable to access resources. This will allow students to help close the state’s gap in critical workforce shortages in essential careers such as doctors, nurses and engineers.
Confident that students are going to save millions of dollars on out-of-pocket costs, Adams said he’s also certain that Illinois will see a return in investment to the program as students will likely choose to stay in the state for college as well as remain in Illinois following graduation to begin their careers as a result of the program.
As Illinois is the first state to provide a program such as this, Adams said he believes once the program’s value is shown, other states will want to jump on board.
“This is up and running now, the other schools will be up and running in the next couple of weeks,” Adams said. “Everybody will be online and firing on all cylinders when students come back to school in the fall.”
