Nearly 20 license types have been added to a new professional online licensing system in Illinois.
The system is being advanced in phases with the intent to get licenses for professionals more quickly for things like barber school, cosmetology school, or to be a landscape architect.
16 license types were added onto the state’s modernized regulatory platform on Feb. 3, a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced.
Here are the license-types that were added.
New license-types
Here are the 16 license-types were added to the system:
More about the new licensing system
The state agency that oversees licensing for health care and occupational professionals, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, needed to enter a contract with a technology vendor to build a new computer software system, per legislation signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2024.
An SJ-R report in August of that year characterized the state’s efforts as addressing “a long-standing issue that has led to substantial wait-times for workers needing licenses,” adding that both Democratic and Republicans lawmakers had expressed frustration about the weeks or months it was taking for people to receive licenses.
The agency announced it had reached such an agreement with NIC Licensing Solutions, LLC in August of 2024.
What other license-types are in the new system?
More than 115 new applications for licensure are now being accepted on the system that is titled Comprehensive Online Regulatory Environment, or CORE.
People whose professions are now available on CORE should utilize IDFPR’s new licensing system to apply for licensure.
What’s next?
With the recently completed phase, 3.1, CORE evolves beyond an online licensing portal to a 360-degree regulatory system that will integrate licensing, continuing education, inspections, compliance, and enforcement into a single record, wrote public information officer Steven Johnson in a press release.
The platform will provide regulators with enhanced tools to protect consumers while giving professionals a more transparent, efficient, and user-friendly experience, he added.
Six phases are listed in total, which include full regulatory transition for various divisions, like real estate, banking, and financial institutions.
Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois adds another 16 professions to online system. See the list
Reporting by Tom Ackerman, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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