Overview
A Simple but Profound Mission Animates Administrators, Faculty, and Students in Study, Service, and Sports
The mission of North Park University, according to the school's founding charter and historic tradition, is "to prepare students for lives of significance and service through education in the liberal arts, professional studies, and theology." This mission has a distinctively Christian core to it, of course, and is both "intentionally urban" and "purposefully multicultural," like the university and the Evangelical Covenant Church themselves. NPU has worked for over a century to create and maintain a learning and teaching community of strong character and unparalleled excellence, a progressive place where faith and knowledge join in common cause.
In addition to the challenging academics, North Park students are committed to a rich array of extra- and co-curricular activities that aid in their spiritual, personal, and social development. The school's Outreach Ministries program involves students from around the U.S., while hundreds of North Park students perform volunteer community service weekly in over 20 programs.
Students are encouraged to challenge their core values, define their unique potentials, and attend to their "whole person" through music, theater, student government, athletics, and Christian service activities. Chapel, small discussion and prayer groups, community service, and physical fitness programs play important roles in the daily lives of students, and the collective life of the institution.
A Full Range of Undergraduate Majors, Plus Strong Graduate Offerings, Make North Park the Place to Be
North Park offers a Bachelor of Arts degree with myriad major concentrations, from advertising, biblical and theological studies, business, and economics to chemistry, communication arts, constructed majors, various education specialties, French studies, global studies, history, information technology, music, philosophy, physics, psychology, sociology, youth ministry, and several dozen others.
Similarly, a Bachelor of Science is offered with such major concentrations as athletic training, biology, clinical laboratory science, computer science, information systems, mathematics, nursing, physical education, physics, and many others. In addition, a student can receive a Bachelor of Music (performance), a Bachelor of Music in worship or a Bachelor of Music Education degree.
Pre-professional programs are available in medicine, pharmaceutical science, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dentistry, law, optometry, and veterinary medicine. North Park University also participates in a "3-2" engineering program in which students are awarded both a baccalaureate degree from NPU and an engineering degree from another approved, participating university.
A degree completion program, featuring classes on evenings and weekends, offers adults accelerated B.A. degrees in criminal justice, human development, information technology management, church administration, and organizational management.
North Park's School of Business and Nonprofit Management (SBNM) offers a number of graduate management programs in both online and face-to-face settings, and has one of the nation's best scholarship programs for part-time graduate management students.
The Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management is one of the nation's foremost providers of nonprofit management education, with a mission to enhance the performance, effectiveness, and efficiency of organizations and individuals in the nonprofit sector through first-rate education, opportunities for compassionate service, and the finest possible resources. For a faith-based education in non-profit organizational management, there is no better choice.
A Dedicated Faculty, Small Classes, and a Good Student-Faculty Ratio Ensure Student Participation and Success
The North Park faculty is committed to integrating the values of Christian faith into academic life. Some 87 percent of NPU's 125 full-time faculty members have doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields, in the arts, sciences, and professional disciplines.
Bringing a wide range of Christian denominational and educational influences, faculty members are committed Christians who share North Park's passion for providing a first-rate Christian liberal arts education, and are well respected in their various specialties.
North Park's student-faculty ratio of 12:1 and its small class sizes ensure that every student is not merely noticed, but receives personalized attention. Students get to know both teachers and classmates on a personal level, and have been known actually to "enjoy going to class" because they get something valuable out of it. At other schools, the majority of classes can take place in large lecture halls with up to 400 students, whereas the intimate atmosphere of NPU's classes engender student participation, as well as success.
NPU's Location in Chicago Provides a Large "Adjunct Classroom," as Community Service and Engagement Are Key
North Park University, a four-year university located in Chicago, Illinois, in the North Park neighborhood, was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church and still shares its campus with the denomination's one and only seminary. With a rich tradition of liberal arts pedagogy, the school enrolls over 3,000 students from around the country and the world, offering first professional, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees.
The campus, in a serene residential neighborhood, is a park-like 30 acres with the small-town traits of charm and warmth, while the surrounding city is among the most culturally diverse and exciting areas in the world. Like its surroundings, North Park is also diverse, and over 40 percent of the student body is non-white (African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and "other").
Chicago is rich with cultural and recreational opportunities, but is also a city in need of compassionate community service. Student lives gain enrichment from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, even as excitement is piqued by the performances of the Chicago Cubs and the six-time NBA Champion Bulls.
The same passionate excitement is present when it comes time to serve others in the missions, the streets, and the homeless shelters. Life is here in all its many forms, and the urban setting itself is an adjunct classroom, rewarding students in myriad ways.
North Park hosts appearances by renowned professional musicians as well as guest speakers confronting the critical issues of the day. The impact of city life on the university's various curricula is pronounced, and hundreds of student internship positions are in place across the region.
All parts of the greater Chicago area are easily reached by the public transit system, making the riches of city life available on demand as well as bringing North Park students out into the community to serve and learn.
