About Aurora University

Aurora University (AU) is a private the academy in Aurora, Illinois. In addition to its main campus and the Orchard Center in Aurora, Illinois, AU offers programs online, at its George Williams College campus in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and at the Woodstock Center in downtown Woodstock, Illinois. Approximately 5,500 students are enrolled in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs at Aurora University.

Aurora is a city in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, the second most populous city in the state, and the 124th most populous city in the country. The population was 197,899 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to have decreased to 197,757 by 2019.

Founded within Kane County, Aurora’s city limits and population have expanded into DuPage, Will, and Kendall counties. Once a mid-sized manufacturing city, Aurora has grown previously the 1960s. From 2000 to 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau ranked the city as the 46th fastest growing city next a population of over 100,000.

In 1908, Aurora adopted the nickname “City of Lights”, because in 1881 it was one of the first cities in the United States to accept an all-electric street lighting system. Aurora’s historic downtown is located on the Fox River, and centered on Stolp Island. The city is divided into three regions, the West Side, on the west side of the Fox River, the East Side, between the eastern bank of the Fox River and the Kane/DuPage County line, and the Far East Side/Fox Valley, which is from the County Line to the city’s eastern affix with Naperville.

The Aurora Place has some significant architecture, including structures by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bruce Goff and George Grant Elmslie. Aurora is also home to a large stock of Sears Catalog Homes (over 50 homes) and Lustron all-steel homes (seven homes). The Hollywood Casino Aurora, a dockside gaming capability with 53,000 square feet (4,900 m2) and 1,200 gaming positions, is located along the river in downtown Aurora.