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NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE

Naperville, Illinois

PrivateUG

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Country: United States
Funding: Private
Study levels: Undergraduate
Nearest airport: Chicago O’Hare International Airport

NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE

If you are looking for a different form of higher education in the following areas: higher overall student satisfaction, a general feeling that professors take a personal interest in the student's education, perception of encouragement to participate in discussion, and a program which allows you generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, a liberal arts college like North Central College will be the best fit for you.
North Central College is on a 65-acre (24 ha) campus in downtown Naperville on Chicago Avenue, only a 40-minute drive from Chicago City. Its attractive location provides students the enjoyment of the charm of a small town while receiving benefits of all amenities and career opportunities of the nearby 3rd-biggest city of the United States, Chicago.
North Central College garnered recognition as a top producer of Fulbright students. Opportunities for undergraduate research may be few and far between at a state university but at North Central, every single undergraduate receives the chance to work one-on-one with a faculty member engaged in some type of original research. The college also has opportunities for individual work, such as the Richter Independent Study Grants and the Honors program's Senior Honors Thesis.
North Central offers a superior education quality and a price well below the book-price tuition figure. It offers international students generous scholarship packages from 55% to 70%.

Rankings & recognition

#20Regional Universities in the MidwestUS News & World Report 2026
#27Best Value SchoolsUS News & World Report 2026

Key facts

A comprehensive, liberal arts college
3,000 students from 32 nations
NCC Coffee Lab: A state-of-the-art roastery and research laboratory dedicated to the business of coffee, with a faculty-student-partner collaboration that focuses on direct trade and relationship-based social enterprises
WONC-FM 89.1: An award-winning, student-run radio station where students can pursue careers in both on-air and behind-the-scenes roles in broadcast communication from the first day of classes
Students are encouraged to study abroad, with opportunities on five continents from three-week courses to full-time term-long or full-year programs
90% of international students are on OPT or are employed upon graduating

Admission levels

Undergraduate - Direct/ESL/Pathway

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Where it is

Naperville, only a 40-minute drive from Chicago, has grown to become Illinois' 4th-largest city by 2018. High-tech companies, retailers, and factories, as well as small and home-based businesses, all contribute to the city's diverse employer base. Naperville is the premier community to live with all the amenities of a modern city and all the charm of a small town. Its proximity to Chicago offers great opportunities for jobs at leading global companies as well as boutique firms in every industry imaginable.