The University of Illinois at Chicago is a co-educational research university and the largest university in the Chicago area. Through its 15 colleges, it offers 74 bachelor’s, 77 master's, and 60 doctoral degree programs and enrolls more than 25,000 students. The early days of UIC can be traced to the founding of the Chicago Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the Chicago College of Pharmacy in 1858 and 1859 respectively. In the 1890s, these colleges came under the affiliation of the University of Illinois. In 1913, the College of Physicians and Surgeons was incorporated as the state’s first college of medicine, under the University of Illinois. This College of Medicine of the University of Illinois is considered the precursor to the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, the nation’s largest medical facility. In order to address the academic needs of a mounting number of students, the University of Illinois began a two-year temporary campus at the Navy Pier, in 1946. As the academic sophistications grew, the Navy Pier campus was replaced by the comprehensive University of Illinois Circle Campus (UICC) in 1965, thanks to the earnest attempts from then-Mayor Richard J. Daley to set up a four-year campus in the city. The UICC campus was known as the “Circle” to the Chicagoans, faculty, and students, a name that was in common use until the present day UIC campus assumed prominence. The modern-day University of Illinois at Chicago was formed in 1982, by the consolidation of two University of Illinois campuses – the Medical Center campus and the Chicago Circle campus. UIC is the preferred shortened name of the university today. The University of Illinois at Chicago seems to have influenced the populace of Chicago in a big way. Statistics say that one in every 10 Chicagoans is a UIC graduate. Its Medical Center is considered the biggest in the country and a large percentage of medical professionals in the city are found to be UIC alumni. UIC’s pharmacy, nursing, applied health sciences, public health, social work, and urban planning programs are ranked among the top programs in United States. Its College of Dentistry is one of the two such programs available in Illinois, while UIC’s finance program is hailed as one among the top 20 in the nation. UIC is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) and the UIC College of Medicine by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.