About AHS

The College of Applied Health Sciences (AHS) is an international leader in answering critical questions related to the health, wellness, and quality of life of individuals with and without disabilities, families, and communities. World-class facilities, visionary scholars, curriculums that prepare students through a combination of theory and practice, and impactful outreach programs keep AHS at the forefront of discovery in areas that affect people all over the world.

AHS offers degrees in Community Health, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Kinesiology, Speech and Hearing Science, and Recreation, Sport and Tourism. The College also is home to the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services, which provides academic and non-academic support to more than 2500 students with disabilities across campus, and the Chez Veterans Center, which supports student veterans throughout the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Additionally, the College’s Center on Health, Aging, and Disability promotes health and wellness across the lifespan through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach, with special emphasis on issues related to healthy aging and disability.

HISTORY

The College of Applied Health Sciences can trace its roots back to 1895, when the University of Illinois established the Department of Physical Training for Men and the Department of Physical Training for Women. The College of Physical Education, later renamed the College of Applied Life Studies, formally began in 1957. It became the College of Applied Health Sciences in 2006.

The departments of physical training for men and women merged in 1972 as the Department of Physical Education, which was renamed the Department of Kinesiology in 1987. Studies in Community Health were formalized in 1957 with the founding of the Department of Health and Safety Information, later called the Department of Community Health. The programs in Community Health and Kinesiology merged in 2005 to become the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health.

The department now known as the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism was founded in 1957 as the Department of Recreation. The Department of Speech Correction, which had been affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, joined AHS as the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in 1991.