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Mission & History
Mission Statement
Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is dedicated to both excellence and access. The most important facets of the university's mission are to offer high quality undergraduate and graduate programs to a broad spectrum of students and to foster student growth and development. To these ends, the university attaches primary importance to excellence in teaching. Since program quality is enhanced by professional activities beyond the classroom on the part of the faculty, emphasis is also given to pure and applied research and to academic and public service.
Unique to Northeastern's mission are the two distinctive features of diversity and community partnerships. Because of its location in the Chicago metropolitan area, the university serves a population which is diverse in age, culture, language, and race. This diversity, a major asset, means that the academic programs utilize a variety of perspectives to enrich the teaching and learning experience and to prepare students for the multiculturalism which characterizes our society. The university's location also provides students and faculty with many opportunities to integrate field-based learning, research, and service with classroom instruction.
Northeastern Illinois University preserves the finest traditions of university education, augmented by active involvement in the metropolitan area, on behalf of the residents of Illinois.
| NEIU Historical Timeline |
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1867 Established as Cook County Normal School, Blue Island Illinois, the first teacher training institution in the county |
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1961 Moved to its current North-side campus, 5500 N. St. Louis Ave., Chicago, Illinois (total enrollment 1,348) |
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1965 Renamed Chicago Teachers' College- North |
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1967 Renamed Northeastern Illinois State College |
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1971 Granted university status and renamed Northeastern Illinois University (total enrollment 7,000) |
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1966 Established Center for Inner City Studies as an outgrowth of concern for and commitment to inner city communities (renamed Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies in 2004) |
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1969 Established El Centro- a satellite facility serving as the University's academic center for the Latino community |
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1978 Founded the Chicago Teachers' Center- a satellite site offering professional development programs and other educational resources for urban teachers and administrators |
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1996 Joined the University Center of Lake County as a founding member of the Lake County consortium of public and private universities which offers college level courses in Lake County |
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