Southern Illinois University--Carbondale is a public institution that was founded in 1869. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 14,130, its setting is rural, and the campus size is 1,136 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Southern Illinois University--Carbondale's ranking in the 2014 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 177.

All the brains of a nationally ranked research university. All the heart of a small college. This is just another way of saying that, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, our intense academics are powered by relationships. Our faculty are some of the most cited experts in their fields and they still give students the personal attention they deserve.