The Deans office of Social Sciences was active on Sangamon State University campus from the earliest days of the university. After 1975 the classes that were a part of the dean’s office were split up and put under different departments. Then the office was dissolved after the classes were sent to different departments.

The campus in Peoria, Illinois, was opened in 1975 for upper-division classes. Their first graduating class was in 1977 with majors that included Social Justice, Management, and Nursing. The Social Justice program would change its name in 1994 to Criminal Justice. When SSU was enveloped into the University of Illinois system, the campus in Peoria was renamed Peoria Center. Following that, in 2001, the first master’s in business administration enters the program in Peoria. In 2009, the Center moves from Illinois Central College on the East Peoria campus to the Perley Building in downtown Peoria. Ten years later, the center moves back to Illinois Central College and is renamed UIS Peoria. UIS Peoria offers bachelor’s degrees in accounting, Business administration, Computer Science, and Teachers Education as well as several graduate certificates.