At A Glance

North Central College is an independent, comprehensive college of the liberal arts and sciences that offers more than 55 undergraduate majors and graduate programming in six areas. Located in the Historic District of Naperville, Illinois, North Central College is just 28 miles west of Chicago's Loop. With more than 2,700 undergraduates and 260 graduate students, North Central College is committed to academic excellence, a climate that emphasizes leadership, ethics, values and service, a curriculum that balances job-related knowledge with a liberal arts foundation and a caring environment with small classes. North Central College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Mission and Character

North Central College is a community of learners dedicated to preparing students to be informed, involved, principled and productive citizens and leaders over their lifetime. The College is committed to academic excellence; an academic climate that emphasizes leadership, ethics and values; an innovative, integrated and internationalized curriculum that balances practical knowledge in job-related fields with a liberal arts foundation in writing, speaking and thinking; and a caring environment with small classes and one-on-one instruction.

Location The 61.5-acre campus is located in the city of Naperville's beautiful residential Historic District. With a population of more than 140,000, Naperville is in the heart of the high-technology Illinois Research and Development Corridor, bounded by Argonne National Laboratory on the east and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory on the west. The campus is just 28 miles from downtown Chicago and the economic, social and cultural opportunities available in the nation's third largest metropolitan area.

Academics

Bachelor of arts (B.A.) and bachelor of science (B.S.) degrees are awarded in more than 55 majors. Numerous interdisciplinary programs are offered in addition to a variety of independent study and research opportunities, off-campus programs and internships. Student scholars may be inducted into one of 15 national honor societies. The College offers six graduate programs:

• Business Administration
• Liberal Studies
• Education
• Leadership Studies
• Management Information Systems
• Web and Internet Applications

The College's academic calendar consists of three 10 1/2-week terms, a summer session and D-Term, a three-week session in December. Dates are scheduled to accommodate full-time and
part-time students.

Faculty

North Central College's faculty is distinguished for its teaching. Eighty-eight percent of the 139 full-time teaching faculty have doctorates or terminal degrees in their fields. The College is also fortunate to be located in an area where it can draw from the experience of adjunct instructors, many of whom have long-standing relationships with North Central College and are employed in the Illinois Research and Development Corridor and Chicago's business and cultural fields. A distinctive professional term and faculty development grants encourage continued research and professional growth for faculty who annually publish numerous articles and books but whose primary mission is teaching.

Students North Central College students come from 32 states and 27 foreign countries. The student-faculty ratio is 15:1. Academic achievement is characteristic of the College's undergraduate and graduate students. The average composite ACT score is 24 for the 574 new first-year students who enrolled for fall term 2011.

Enrollment

Current enrollment is more than 3,000, including 2,500 full-time undergraduates, mostly of traditional age (18- to 24-year-olds). More than 1,400 live in College-owned housing, and the remainder live off campus or commute. An additional 213 undergraduates, many of them working adults, are enrolled part-time in day, evening or weekend classes; some 260 students are enrolled in graduate programs.

Multicultural & International Programming

North Central College's minority enrollment of 456 students constitutes 15 percent of the student population. The College also has a growing number of international students. The Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Office of International Programs assist in promoting a diversified academic community that respects, appreciates and celebrates human differences within and among cultures. The College has an active Black Student Association, Raza Unida Association, International Club and other student organizations and programs to recruit and train successful undergraduates. Study abroad opportunities include programs in Costa Rica, England and China/Japan as well as exchanges with schools in South Korea, Taiwan, Northern Ireland, France, Japan, England, Greece, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and Kenya. Students may also directly enroll in programs in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Ghana, China, India, Scotland, Singapore and Germany.

Activities

Students may choose from more than 60 active clubs, special interest organizations, student government boards and preprofessional groups. Many North Central College student organizations have garnered national recognition, including forensics and Mock Trial teams, Model United Nations delegations, Students In Free Enterprise, the American Marketing Association, campus ministry and alcohol awareness programs. WONC-FM 89.1 is one of the most honored campus radio stations in the nation. A total of 102 students in 35 poster and 43 oral presentations from all academic divisions participated in North Central College's 14th Annual Rall Symposium for Undergraduate Research in 2011.

Fine and Performing Arts Music and theatre students perform in numerous venues. Students and the community have access to state-of-the-art facilities with world-class acoustics. They include: 605-seat Wentz Concert Hall 150-seat Madden Theatre 240-seat theatre in Meiley-Swallow Hall 1,050-seat Pfeiffer Hall 150-seat Koten Chapel

Resources

The College's annual operating budget including student financial aid for 2009-2010 was $81.2 million. The 2009-2010 fiscal year was the 39th consecutive year that concluded with a balanced budget. As of October 31, 2010, North Central College's endowment was $88.5 million and $94.7 million when charitable trusts and similar funds were included.

Library

Oesterle Library offers students and faculty ready access to more than 37 million items from 71 college and university libraries in Illinois in addition to more than 150,000 volumes in its collection and more than 3,400 journal titles. The library also provides access to numerous information resources via its Web site, and each term offers a full schedule of library instruction, classes and orientations.

Technology

Most campus areas, both indoor and outdoor, are wireless. All students, faculty and staff have access to a voice, video and data network, including full Internet access from residence halls, classrooms, computer laboratories and offices. Science equipment available for student research includes:

• video microscope equipped with fluorescence optics
• digital gel documentation system
• PCR thermal cyclers
• fluorescence spectrometer
• atomic absorption spectrometer
• inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES)
• capillary electrophoresis system
• environmental chambers
• inert atmosphere glovebox
• 300 MHz magnetic resonance spectrometer
• ultraviolet-visible and infrared spectrometers
• microplate spectrophotometer
• electroporator
• high- and medium-pressure liquid chromatographs
• gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer
• continuous and pulsed lasers
• computer networking and multimedia labs
• bio-rad microplate spectrophotometer
• Sorvall high-speed centrifuge
• Li-Cor LI-6400XT Portable Photosynthesis System
• Hansatech chlorophyll content meter
• GPS systems
• backpacking and camping gear
• ultralow freezers
• eDAQ electrochemistry workstation
• SRI 8610C gas chromatograph

North Central College also has state-of-the-art language, market research and psychology laboratories, one dual-boot Macintosh lab and access to a fully-equipped radio, television, film and photography studio.

Community Education

Courses and programs are offered to the community in business and professional development, computers, languages and fine arts. All courses are noncredit unless otherwise specified. The Office of Community Development may be reached via email at community_ed@noctrl.edu or by phone at

630-637-5560.

Cultural Events

Everything from gospel to jazz, Shakespeare to Sondheim, poet laureates to popular music. Wentz Concert Hall shares its stage with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra and a slate of nationally known entertainers. The Speaker Series, free and open to the public, welcomes Pulitzer-Prize winners, best-selling authors and expert commentators on the issues of our times. Visit northcentralcollege.edu/show or call 630-637-SHOW (7469).

Conferences

North Central College facilities are available for outside use. State-of-the-art classrooms, athletic facilities, air-conditioned townhouse-style residence halls—everything you need to host a successful event is at North Central College, just blocks from downtown Naperville and its attractive shopping and dining. For more information contact the Office of Community Development at 630-637-5560.

Corporate Training

Training may be arranged at your site or on our campus. Contact the Office of Community Development at 630-637-5560.

Recognition

• U.S. News & World Report's "America's
  Best Colleges."
• One of Kaplan's 320 Most Interesting Colleges.
• One of Princeton Review's "Best in the Midwest" Colleges
• North Central is consistently one of the top five delegations competing in the Model United Nations Midwestern Conference.
• WONC-FM 89.1, the campus radio station, has won more Marconi Awards, the highest honor in college radio broadcasting, than any other college radio station in the country.
• The North Central chapter of Students In Free Enterprise is consistently one of the top teams in the nation.

Academic Opportunities

• College Scholars Honors Program
• Study Abroad
• Internships
• Washington, D.C., and Chicago terms
• Leadership, Ethics and Values Program
• Richter Independent Study Fellowships
• History of Ideas Program
• Wingspread Scholars Program
• Research cooperatives
• England, Costa Rica and China/Japan terms
• Annual Rall Symposium for Undergraduate Student Research

Performing Arts Opportunities

• Concert Winds
• Concert Choir
• Women's Chorale
• Red Noise pep band
• Gospel Choir
• Jazz ensembles
• NCC Express show choir
• Small ensembles
• New Visions traveling music ministry
• Several main stage productions in four venues

Athletics North Central College student-athletes compete in 22 intercollegiate sports (11 for men and 11 for women) in NCAA Division III and the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. North Central College has won 28 national championships, including the 2010-2011 men's indoor and outdoor track & field titles, and 38 consecutive CCIW men's cross country championships. For more information about Cardinal athletics, visit northcentralcardinals.com.

Varsity Athletic Teams include:

• Baseball (M)
• Basketball (M,W)
• Cross Country (M,W)
• Football (M)
• Golf (M,W)
• Lacrosse (W)
• Soccer (M,W)
• Softball (W)
• Swimming (M,W)
• Tennis (M,W)
• Track and Field - indoor and outdoor (M,W)
• Volleyball (W)
• Wrestling (M)

Financial Aid and Scholarships

More than 90 percent of first-year undergraduates receive financial assistance. Renewable merit-based scholarships are available for academics and talent in fine arts.