They wanted a University of Illinois branded school. It was a matter of prestige. UIC’s antecedents go back to 1857 (oldest medical clinic The Eye and Ear infirmary) and 1859 (oldest academic unit College of Pharmacy). When Urbana opened, there was an understanding that when things got running a second Chicago based branch would open. We always forget about the third campus at Springfield. Everyone knows Urbana is the large, traditional university and Chicago is the urban health care school. Springfield has no reputation for being anything. They try to position it as a small liberal arts school. The majority of people who go there are from Springfield.
Both Chicago State and NEIU started out as a normal (teaching) school in about 1900.