Northeastern Illinois University

Northeastern Illinois University International Student Insurance

Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), located in Chicago, Illinois, was established in 1867. It was founded as the Cook County Normal School, a training institution for elementary and high-school teachers. It went through several more name changes and a location change before becoming Northeastern Illinois State College in 1967 and gaining university status and adopting its present name in 1971. NEIU also operates three satellite locations within Chicago. The Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies was established in 1966 as an effort to provide opportunities to inner-city and African-American communities. The El Centro location, founded in 1969, does the same for Chicago’s Latino community; NEIU has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. It’s also a member of the University Center of Lake County. 

NEIU enrolls about 7,500 students and counting each year. The school’s colors are gold and blue, and its mascot is the golden eagles.

Campus Offerings

NEIU offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs across three colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Management, and the Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education. The school’s most popular bachelor’s degrees include computer science, psychology, social work, and accounting. NEIU also operates one of the longest-running free-form community radio stations in the country, WZRD Chicago 88.3 FM, that played an integral role in the 1980s Chicago punk rock scene.

Notable Alumni

Notable Northeastern Illinois University alumni include essayist Muhammed al-Ahari, writer and activist Candy Dawson Boyd, journalist Robert Jordan, singer Tim McIlrath, actor John Pankow, and MLB pitcher Alan Hargesheimer.

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