Washington Monthly magazine named Northeastern Illinois University one of the nation’s Best Colleges for Adult Learners in its September/October 2019 issue. Northeastern ranked No. 1 in Illinois and 34th overall on the list of four-year universities nationwide.
According to the magazine, nearly one-third of all undergraduates in the United States are 25 or older. The average age of a Northeastern student in Fall 2018 was 28.
“It’s no secret to me that Northeastern students are incredibly hard-working and dedicated,” President Gloria J. Gibson said. “We have a strong population of adult learners who come here to achieve their goal of earning a degree as well as to advance in their careers. We are proud to serve all of our students and provide them with the tools they need to become and remain highly competitive in today’s workforce.”
Washington Monthly’s rankings were compiled using data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System survey, the department’s College Scorecard database, the College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges and the Department of Education’s list of colleges on the most serious level of heightened cash monitoring for significant financial or operating concerns. Those numbers were combined into eight metrics, including ease of transfer, flexibility of programs, and services for adults such as on-campus daycare and career services, to calculate their rankings.
Earlier this year, Northeastern was ranked No. 1 in Illinois for graduating students with the lowest amount of debt among all four-year public and private institutions of higher learning by LendEDU. In 2018, Northeastern also ranked No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” publication for students who graduate with the least amount of debt among Midwest regional universities. U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 rankings will be released later this year.
