Illinois Institute of Technology

Illinois Tech is unusually international for a US private university — 18% of undergraduates were non-resident visa holders in Fall 2023 — and it is also heavily postgraduate-weighted, awarding 630 bachelor's degrees against 1,218 master's in 2022-23, so published institution-wide figures skew toward graduate students. The Mies campus was designed by Mies van der Rohe, and the architecture programme sits inside that legacy. Two things distinguish the admission mechanics. Illinois Tech charges no undergraduate application fee at all, and it tells cost-sensitive applicants in writing to avoid its binding Early Decision round and use Early Action instead, which is unusually candid advice from a university that benefits from Early Decision. Financial documentation is not required for admission review. The Financial Affidavit of Responsibility and proof of funds are submitted only after an offer and an enrolment deposit, which reverses the order Syracuse uses. Entry requirements are also lighter than at comparable technical universities: fifteen academic units, with no laboratory science and no foreign language required.