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University of Illinois

URBANA, ILFEIN 37-6000511NAICS 611310

Likely cap-exempt

Likely cap-exempt because most of its LCAs give NAICS 611310 (colleges and universities). Cap-exempt employers (universities, their affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit and government research organizations) hire outside the H-1B lottery. This is a rule applied to the data, not a USCIS determination; a for-profit college can match it. The rule

Certified LCAs, FY2026
242

334 filed, through June 30, 2026

Median offered pay, FY2026
$87,601

Yearly, certified full-time LCAs

Entry-level share
3%

18 software, data, finance or quant LCAs at level I or II, FY2025 and FY2026

USCIS initial approvals, FY2023
78

Workers new to H-1B employment with this employer

LCAs by fiscal year

Every Labor Condition Application this employer filed, by the status DOL gave it.

0100200300400FY2023: 347 certified LCAsFY2024: 344 certified LCAsFY2025: 333 certified LCAsFY2026 (partial year): 242 certified LCAs242FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026*
* partial fiscal year (latest DOL release so far)
Fiscal yearFiledCertifiedWithdrawnDeniedCertified workersSource
FY20234683471210347DOL LCA FY2023 Q1-Q4, 468 rows
FY2024426344802344DOL LCA FY2024 Q1-Q4, 426 rows
FY20254443331110333DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 444 rows
FY2026334242920242DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 334 rows

FY2026 covers October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 (the latest DOL release). Withdrawn includes certified-then-withdrawn.

What is an LCA, and what do these statuses mean?

A Labor Condition Application is the form an employer files with the Department of Labor before an H-1B, H-1B1 or E-3 petition. It names the job, the worksite and the wage.

Certified means DOL accepted it. Withdrawn means the employer withdrew it. Denied means DOL rejected it. A certified LCA shows intent to hire into a role; it is not a visa and not a petition approval.

Offered pay

Yearly pay on certified, full-time LCAs with a valid wage. The bar spans the 25th to 75th percentile; the tick is the median.

Offered wage by role group, FY2025 and FY2026

Per fiscal year; percentiles are not combined across years. The prevailing wage is the wage DOL requires for the occupation, area and level on each LCA, annualized the same way.

Role groupYearCertified25th pctMedian75th pctPrevailing wage, medianSource
Software engineeringFY20269$90,032$92,664$96,896$63,211DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 9 rows
Software engineeringFY20255$86,424$90,168$94,497$79,290DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 5 rows
Data and analyticsFY20269$74,663$91,710$104,700$69,296DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 8 rows
Data and analyticsFY202512$77,764$81,672$89,747$63,977DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 12 rows
Quant and actuarialFY20262$120,000$121,000$122,000$71,039DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 2 rows
Quant and actuarialFY20252$106,608$107,217$107,825$76,238DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 2 rows
IT and systemsFY20263$90,780$95,000$97,192$70,826DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 3 rows
IT and systemsFY20253$73,000$80,000$80,000$56,909DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 3 rows
EngineeringFY202616$57,457$67,166$91,518$63,232DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 16 rows
EngineeringFY202515$59,898$84,739$88,868$56,659DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 15 rows
OtherFY2026203$66,269$86,361$127,354$64,769DOL LCA FY2026 Q3, 202 rows
OtherFY2025296$65,000$85,000$125,000$63,960DOL LCA FY2025 Q1-Q4, 292 rows

Wage level mix, FY2025 and FY2026

The prevailing wage level the employer chose on each certified LCA. Level I is the entry level.

Level I
41%236
Level II
19%108
Level III
8%48
Level IV
5%30
Not stated
27%153

Since the FY2027 cap season, the H-1B lottery gives a registration 1 entry at wage level I, 2 at II, 3 at III and 4 at IV (rule effective February 27, 2026). USCIS announcement. Levels shown are those on past LCAs.

How is pay calculated?

Filed uses the lower end of the pay range on each LCA (the figure the employer commits to) and turns it into a yearly amount: hourly x 2,080, weekly x 52, every two weeks x 26, monthly x 12.

Amounts under $15,000 or over $1,000,000 a year are almost always a unit typo (a salary entered as hourly), so they are left out of pay figures but still counted as LCAs.

Role groups, FY2025 and FY2026

Certified LCAs by occupation group (from the SOC code on each LCA).

  • Other49987%
  • Engineering315%
  • Data and analytics214%
  • Software engineering142%
  • IT and systems61%
  • Quant and actuarial41%

Entry-level signal

18 entry-level LCAs, 3% of 575 certified, FY2025 to FY2026

entry-level LCAs = certified LCAs in Software engineering, Data and analytics, Finance, or Quant and actuarial at wage level I or II
share = entry-level LCAs / all certified LCAs, same fiscal years

USCIS initial approvals, same years: not loaded (USCIS years loaded: FY2023)

A count of past filings, not a probability of sponsorship.

Top job titles, FY2026

  1. 1ASSISTANT PROFESSOR43
  2. 2POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE29
  3. 3RESEARCH SPECIALIST12
  4. 4RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR9
  5. 5VISITING RESEARCH SPECIALIST8

Top worksite states, FY2026

  1. 1IL239
  2. 2CA1
  3. 3OH1
  4. 4WA1

USCIS petition decisions

From the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, matched by name, state and the last four tax ID digits.

Fiscal yearInitial approvedof which new employmentInitial deniedContinuing approvedContinuing deniedSource
FY202378–2461USCIS Data Hub FY2023, 4 rows

Initial = New Employment + New Concurrent (a change of status from F-1 counts as New Employment). The FY2023 file reports initial and continuing only, so New Employment is shown as – for it.

Initial or continuing: what is the difference?

Initial approvals are workers new to H-1B employment with this employer, including a student moving from F-1 (OPT) status. Continuing covers extensions, amendments and workers changing to this employer from another H-1B employer.

USCIS counts workers, not forms, and reports the first decision on each petition.

Name variants seen

Every spelling this employer used on its filings.

  • University of Illinois1,026 LCAs
  • University of Illinois Chicago328 LCAs
  • University of Illinois at Chicago272 LCAs
  • Board of Trustees, University of Illinois, on behalf of University of Illinois Springfield28 LCAs
  • UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO8 LCAs
  • Board of Trustees, Univ of IL, behalf of Discovery Partners Institute4 LCAs
  • UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO4 USCIS rows
  • Board of Trustees, Univ of IL, behalf of Discovery Partners Inst3 LCAs
  • Board of Trustees, University of Illinois, on behalf of Discovery Partners Institute2 LCAs
  • The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois1 LCAs

LCAs are grouped by the employer’s federal tax ID (FEIN). A few one-off names under a large employer are usually another company’s FEIN typo. 778 LCAs in the last two fiscal years.