North Park has served five generations of students and continues to grow in diversity, academic relevance, and Christian commitment. Our Chicago location is a great asset that reflects the School’s global reach and outlook.
After 125 years, we’ve learned how to streamline the process of helping qualified applicants seek admission to North Park and find affordable ways to attend. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on our website, please contact us directly!
North Park offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Classes average 17 students. 84% of our faculty have terminal degrees. Academics here are rigorous and results-oriented.
North Park Theological Seminary prepares you to answer the call to service through theological study, spiritual development, and the formative experiences of living in a community with others on a similar life path.
The Office of Alumni Engagement fosters lifelong connections by engaging alumni with the university and one another in activities, programs, and services that support the university’s mission and alumni needs.
President Surridge discussed North Park’s mission, its unique student body, and how being a college athlete taught her vital leadership skills on the IngenioUS podcast.
North Park President Mary K. Surridge recently discussed North Park’s mission, its unique student body, and how being a college athlete taught her vital leadership skills in a wide-ranging podcast interview.
Hosted by Melissa Morriss-Olson, who previously held executive-level management positions at North Park, the podcast series features leaders and innovative thinkers in higher education. In Surridge’s June 13 episode, she and Morriss-Olson talked about being women in leadership roles.
Morriss-Olson noted that this was the first time she’d interviewed a university president who, like Surridge, had been an elite college athlete, playing NCAA Division I basketball while a student at Northwestern University. Surridge said the experience continues to shape her.
“All of the different elements that make up who we are, I call on every one of those things,” Surridge said, adding that playing on a team taught her the importance of collaboration and how important it is for each player to come “prepared and poised” for the team to succeed.
Later in the conversation, Surridge said: “I think daily about my identity as a child of God, as a mother, as an encourager, as a friend, I think about myself as a recruiter, as a coach, and as a continual learner.”
Of North Park, Surridge noted that North Park has survived and thrived for 132 years, despite ongoing struggles brought on by the pandemic and a competitive market.
Morriss-Olson is on the faculty of Bay Path University, where she served as provost from 2010–20. The podcast featuring Surridge is titled “From Bowties to Neckties to Pearls,” a reference to a line in President Surridge’s 2017 inauguration speech. It’s available for free on Spotify.
North Park students spent a week in Honduras with Global Brigades, an international nonprofit group, where students shadow Honduran doctors in order to better understand health care in different countries.
Seven North Park students traveled to Honduras during spring break. According to IngMarie Schultz, a rising senior majoring in nursing, the group brought with them supplies such as toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen, and soap to give out to people within two Honduran towns.
Global Brigades aims to cultivate a nontraditional approach to mission work by transferring ownership of projects and health clinics back to communities once they’re up and running.
“We shadowed Honduran doctors, dentists, and optometrists providing care for the communities,” Schultz said. “We were able to help provide medical services to 208 people. This was such an amazing and impactful experience. I hope to be back again next year!”
North Park students Ella Brinkman, Laura Matias-Gomez, Jiliyn Boles, Joseph Castaneda, Svea Anderson, and Angelina Ostalaza attended the trip along with Nursing Learning Resource Center Coordinator Hannah Son.
Global Brigades hosts the students in a secure Honduran compound where members from the community meet with students to integrate them into existing health clinics and structures. Nursing students receive health credits and biology students can complete independent study during the trip.
North Park senior Chase Friel and recent graduate Joel Beyar C’22 have been named recipients of the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program award.
North Park senior Chase Friel and recent graduate Joel Beyar C’22 have been named recipients of the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program award.
Friel, a double-major in biblical and theological studies and politics and government,
will use her Fulbright grant to pursue a Master’s Degree in Inequalities, Interventions, and New Welfare State at the University of Turku in Finland. During the two-year program, she will receive a full-tuition scholarship and additional funds to pursue studies and research on social policy and intervention design.
Joel Beyar, who received a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Arabic Studies, will use his Fulbright award to work in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan as an English teaching assistant at a local school. He will also receive funding to continue studying the Arabic language.
Citing their strong leadership abilities, two local school districts have named North Park graduates as principals.
Citing their strong leadership abilities, two local school districts have named North Park graduates as principals. Mark Rasar G’11 has been tapped to head Fenwick High School in Oak Park, while Stephanie Gage G’16 has been named principal of Betsy Ross Elementary School in Prospect Heights.
In naming Rasar, Fenwick President Fr. Richard Peddicord noted his vast administrative and academic expertise, proven leadership ability, and fresh perspective.
“[Rasar’s] focus on enhancing and growing the premier college preparatory school in the Chicago Catholic League make him the ideal choice,” Peddicord said.
Rasar received his graduate degree from North Park after graduating from Southern Illinois University. He previously served as teacher, department chair, and coach at various schools.
Gage, meanwhile, has been chosen to lead Betsy Ross after serving as assistant superintendent at the district’s McArthur Middle School since July 2022.
“Stephanie has a solid background as an administrator and teacher and has earned a great deal of respect from school staff, students and families in her first year with D23,” Superintendent Don Angeleaccio said.
Gage received her Master’s in Educational Leadership at North Park after earning degrees from Northern Illinois and National Louis Universities.
Gage and Rasar will assume their new positions this summer.
North Park University’s men’s basketball coach Sean Smith was named 2023 coach of the year.
North Park University’s men’s basketball coach Sean Smith was named 2023 Coach of the Year by D3Hoops, a leading news site for Division III basketball updates. Before coming to North Park in 2022, Smith coached at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Smith led the Vikings to 24 wins in the 2022–23 season, the most wins since NPU’s 1986 team, and secured the Vikings a spot in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen playoffs.
“I am beyond humbled and grateful to be named the National Coach of the Year,” said Coach Smith. “I consider this a staff award. Also, a big thanks to our team who bought it from day one and led North Park to an historic season!”
Smith is the second North Park coach to win a national award behind men’s soccer coach John Born in 2017.
Esports scholarships and new playing arena announced.
North Park University will award 15 Esports Excellence scholarships, ranging from $500–$2,000, to incoming students who commit to playing for the new Esports varsity team.
The scholarships, which will be awarded beginning in the fall 2023 term, will be available to full-time students who are incoming first-year or transfer students.
North Park’s Esports Varsity team, which kicked off in fall 2022, has joined the National Esports Collegiate Conference and is competing this month in the VALORANT competition.
Other Esports played at North Park include Super Smash Bros. and Ultimate.
“What I really want to promote most heavily with Esports is the level of cooperation and camaraderie you can form by being on a team,” said Esports Varsity Coach Peter Casella. “I want people to understand the friendships you can make playing a sport.”
North Park Esports games will be played at Ignite Gaming Lounge in Skokie, widely considered one of the largest and best video game and LAN center businesses in the country. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and is located directly across from the Skokie-Oakton Yellow Line CTA stop, making it readily accessible to students.
Esports, a form of competitive, organized video gaming, is most often used in a “multiplayer” setting. As a fan-friendly sport when it comes to viewership and streaming, Esports is expected to net 29.6 million monthly viewers this year, up 11.5% from 2021 according to estimates done by Insider Intelligence.
Chicago has been a hotspot for Esports for many years and North Park is well-situated with its Chicago campus to be in the epicenter of this growing sport.
North Park’s historic men’s basketball 2023 season run is gaining attention from the city it calls home. The team was featured in a Chicago Sun-Times article.
North Park’s historic men’s basketball 2023 season run is gaining attention from the city it calls home. The team was featured in a Chicago Sun-Times article highlighting North Park’s humble roots as a basis for building a major basketball comeback. Head Coach Sean Smith brought in nine transfers to complete the team this year and a few early wins set off a “lightbulb” for the players.
“Our team motto this year, because we have been at the bottom of Division III in a lot of ways, is: Nothing to lose and everything to prove,” Smith told the Sun-Times. Read the full article.
North Park was ranked #13 on a recent list of Illinois’ Best Colleges.
North Park was ranked #13th on a list of Illinois’ Best Colleges. The list, compiled by Stacker media, used rankings from Niche. Tuition, student-to-faculty ratio, acceptance rate, graduation rate, and location were factors considered in deciding these rankings. Read more about the rankings at Chicago Star Media.
North Park University announces the fall 2022 Dean’s List.
Congratulations on your achievement to all the students who made the fall 2022 Dean’s List. Degree-seeking students with at least 12 semester credit hours at North Park University and a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for this honor. View the list of students who made the fall semester Dean’s List.
North Park University will install sensors that detect weather and pollution patterns as part of a $166,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
North Park University will install sensors that detect weather and pollution patterns as part of a $166,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The sensors will be installed atop the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life on campus.
NASA awarded the five-year grant to North Park in part because of its federal status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, a school that is committed to equitable outcomes for Hispanic students. The two weather sensors will be installed by NASA this spring, and money from the grant will fund travel expenses and salaries for instructors and student workers. The equipment will be owned and maintained by NASA.
The grant was secured through the joint efforts of Assistant Professor of Chemistry John Randazzo and Director of Sponsored Projects Renee Cox. Only about 10 institutions across the country received the grant, and North Park is the lone Chicago site.
The environmental data gathered by the sensors will allow NASA researchers to monitor levels of atmospheric compounds such as carbon monoxide, along with particulate matters expelled by cars and factories. The data will also be compared to that acquired by satellites circling the earth to ensure accuracy. North Park students and professors will have access to that data, which will be transmitted directly into North Park’s classrooms.
“This is a powerful tool because it makes learning real,” Randazzo said. “The students can read the data and know that’s coming from just above their heads.”
Randazzo said the NASA grant was likely to raise North Park’s profile as a research university.
“Building a face-to-face relationship with NASA raises our credibility and increases future prospects,” Randazzo said, adding that a NASA engineer will be speaking on campus in March.
Dr. Randazzo said he and Cox found the grant opportunity on a NASA LISTSERV about a year ago, and although they ignore “99% of them” because they are not applicable, this particular grant struck them both because of North Park’s location and Randazzo’s background in atmospheric science.
The two worked together to apply for the grant, which they learned they’d won late last year. Read more press releases here.
Author Ellen AlmerPosted on Categories Stories
