A Brief History
More than 130 years ago National Louis University was founded on the principle that a quality education can transform lives, careers and communities. Founder Elizabeth Harrison, an education pioneer and social reformer, opened a kindergarten training school to promote early childhood education, a radical idea at the time. Harrison's groundbreaking work helped launch the National Parent-Teacher Association and the Head Start program, and the National College of Education (NCE) became the first university in Illinois to offer a four-year teaching degree.
In 1986, Michael W. Louis made a historic $30 million gift and the school was formally renamed National Louis University in 1990. This gift enabled the institution to expand its programs beyond education to also offer business, fine arts, English, psychology, public policy, social sciences and more.
In 2015, NLU launched a new undergraduate experience offering students support services to overcome real-life barriers to college success. Designed to address cost barriers, it helps students attain the college degrees employers will require in the future.
In 2018, NLU closed on the transfer agreement of Kendall College’s baking and pastry, business, culinary arts, early childhood education, and hospitality management, as well as general education programs and other assets. And in 2020, NLU formed two dynamic new colleges, the School of Business and Information Technology and the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences.
Today, National Louis offers more than 60 degree programs across five colleges – National College of Education, the School of Business and Information Technology, the Undergraduate College, the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, and Kendall College of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs are available in education, management, human services, counseling, public policy, culinary, hospitality and others concerned with career and professional development.
The University serves approximately 10,000 students annually at locations in Illinois and Florida and is proud of the 80,000 living alumni using their NLU education to serve others. Nivine Megahed, Ph.D. is the institution's eleventh president. For more information visit www.NL.edu.