Get closer to your goals with free access to proven exam prep, exclusively for Illinois students.
Illinois is setting a new standard for student success with Prepare for Illinois’ Future powered by Kaplan’s All Access License™, the first program to provide free academic resources to driven students from 17 institutions across the state.
Through this partnership with Kaplan, you can open new doors for your future with world-class test preparation for admissions exams, licensure, credentials, and skills development programs.
The best part? It’s all available at no cost to you.
Who Is Kaplan?
Kaplan has been a pioneering force in helping students achieve their goals for more than 85 years. As a global leader in education, Kaplan is proud to offer proven programs, expertise, and continuous innovation to support Illinois students’ continued advancement.
Find the Right Test Prep Course for You
We offer education that supports a variety of career goals through more than 40 test preparation and skills development courses and products. Speak with your advisors or faculty to select the best fit for your interests and education level.
For more guidance, visit our Tips on Choosing a Course page.
Ready to Get Started?
Follow these simple steps to explore your options and enroll in a course.
- Find and select your institution below to access your portal.
- Create an account using your school email address so you can find and register for available courses.
- Once in your school portal, you can browse your options by clicking “Explore Catalog” on your student dashboard.
- Enroll in a course by clicking “Enroll Now” or “Add to Cart,” depending on your selection.
Find Your Institution
FAQs
The State of Illinois and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) have partnered with Kaplan, a global educational services provider, to provide eligible students with free access to industry-leading test prep products for graduate admissions exams, licensure exams, credentialing exams, and professional development courses. This includes courses such as test prep for the MCAT®, GRE®, NCLEX®, and so much more (courses available differ between community college and university students).
This program’s goal is to support student success by offering all students at participating institutions access to the test preparation services they need without regard to cost.
The program is available to current students from 12 Illinois public 4-year universities, as well as to students at the 5 community colleges that are part of the community college pilot program:
Universities
- Chicago State University
- Eastern Illinois University
- Governors State University
- Illinois State University
- Northeastern Illinois University
- Northern Illinois University
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
- University of Illinois Chicago
- University of Illinois Springfield
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Western Illinois University
Community Colleges
- Carl Sandburg College
- Joliet Junior College
- Malcolm X College
- Morton College
- Southwestern Illinois College
To access these free test prep courses, you must enroll in the course(s) you plan to take while you are an active student at your institution. Once enrolled, you can start or complete the course even if your status changes and you are no longer an active student, such as after graduating.
The course options available will vary depending on whether you are a community college student or a university student, as well as on degree level.
Community College Students
| Area of Study | Test Prep and Skills Development Courses |
|---|---|
| Business/Financial | Real Estate, Insurance (Life & Health, Property & Casualty), Securities Industry Essentials® (SIE®), Financial Paraplanner Qualified ProfessionalSM (FPQP®), Wealth Management Specialist℠ (WMS℠), Financial Modeling |
| Cybersecurity (fulfilled by N2K) |
|
| Health | NREMT®, EMT, Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technician |
| Military | ASVAB |
| Nursing | CCRN Question Bank (Qbank), NCLEX-PN®, NCLEX-RN®, ANCC & AANP Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certification, and ANCC & AANP Adult Gerontology (AGNP) Question Bank (Qbank) |
| Professional Skills | Confident New Hire, Data Literacy, Python and Math Fundamentals, Data Analysis, Critical Thinking, Project Management |
University Undergraduate Students
| Area of Study | Test Prep and Skills Development Courses |
|---|---|
| Business/Financial | CFA®, Certified Public Accountant (CPA; fulfilled by Gleim), Real Estate, Insurance (Life & Health, Property & Casualty), SIE®, FPQP®, WMS, Pre-MBA Business Fundamentals, Financial Modeling |
| Cybersecurity (fulfilled by N2K) |
|
| Education | Praxis* |
| Engineering | Fundamentals of Engineering |
| Graduate Admissions Tests | MCAT®, LSAT®, GRE®, GMAT®, OAT, DAT |
| Health | NREMT®, EMT, Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technician |
| Military | ASVAB |
| Nursing | NCLEX-RN®, NCLEX-PN® |
| Professional Skills | Confident New Hire, Data Literacy, Python and Math Fundamentals, Data Analysis, Critical Thinking, Project Management |
University Graduate and Professional Students
| Area of Study | Test Prep and Skills Development Courses |
|---|---|
| Business/Financial | CFA®, Certified Public Accountant (CPA; fulfilled by Gleim), Real Estate, Insurance (Life & Health, Property & Casualty), SIE®, FPQP®, WMS℠, Pre-MBA Business Fundamentals, Financial Modeling |
| Cybersecurity (fulfilled by N2K) |
|
| Dental | INBDE |
| Education | Praxis* |
| Law | ABA Welcome to Law School, PMBR 3 Day, Bar Review/IL Plus |
| Medical | USMLE® Step 1, USMLE® Step 2 CK |
| Nursing | CCRN®, ANCC & AANP Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certification, and ANCC & AANP Adult Gerontology (AGNP) Question Bank (Qbank) |
| Physician Assistant | PANCE |
| Professional Skills | Confident New Hire, Resilient Leader, Data Literacy, Python and Math Fundamentals, Data Analysis, Critical Thinking, Project Management |
*Praxis Course and Licensing Exams in State of Illinois: Students in the State of Illinois take a variety of licensing examinations to become a certified teacher. Please check specific state requirements and consult faculty and advising based on major to determine if the Praxis core preparation course would help you prepare for your licensing exams.
Thanks to the State of Illinois and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), this program is completely free to eligible students. There are no out-of-pocket costs.
Yes. You’ll be receiving the same expert exam prep Kaplan has been trusted to offer for 85+ years. As the inventors of test prep, Kaplan has raised thousands of scores—yours could be next.
Kaplan's All Access License™ provides students with comprehensive study materials and resources to help you effectively prepare for and succeed on standardized tests.
Depending on your chosen test prep course, you’ll have access to a mix of practice exams, online instruction, Question Banks (Qbanks), study calendars, and more. Log in to your school’s online portal to see details on your course of interest.
Both modalities will offer the same content. We recommend you decide between the two based on which works best for your life/schedule.
The Live Online option has meeting times with a live instructor. These will have additional enrollment steps so that you can select your seminar/class dates. Live Online courses also include recorded versions of sessions/lectures.
The On Demand course can be completed on your schedule. All the content is preloaded and doesn't require attendance at live lectures.
Tip: the Live Online option will always include the On Demand one as part of it, so you don’t need to enroll in both.
You can browse available courses in your school portal, where they are broken down by areas of interest. As you consider the courses that align with your career goals, we always recommend that you work with an advisor or faculty member as well.
For additional guidance on the appropriate courses based on where you are in your educational pursuits, see our Tips on Choosing a Course.
For best educational results, we recommend you complete one course at a time. We encourage students who are unsure of which test prep course(s) to choose to consult with their academic advisor before graduating to ensure alignment with their educational goals.
No, the Prepare for Illinois’ Future powered by Kaplan’s All Access License™ program is only available to current students enrolled in the state’s 12 public universities, as well as those enrolled in the 5 community colleges in the pilot program.
If you are attending a school outside of this list, such as a private school or a school out of state, check with your academic advisor to see what resources are available to you.
See Notes and Conditions below for important information.
If I Have Other Questions, Where Do I Go?
You can call Kaplan customer care at 1-800-KAP-TEST or see other ways to contact us.