FEATURES

REALIZING OUR MISSION THROUGH RESILIENCE & PERSISTENCE

We are building on our existing strengths to achieve ambitious yet achievable goals that will provide the foundation for sustained growth as a recognized leader in accessibility, equity, and quality education for anyone who wants to learn.

2020 unexpectedly turned into a perfect storm of challenges for institutions of higher education. This, of course, includes NLU. Schools had to abruptly and rapidly transition to an all-remote, virtual environment basically overnight, at breakneck speed. Neither NLU nor any other university had ever faced such a task before, but NLU passed this test with flying colors, even outperforming some of its larger and better-known peers with a seamless transition to the new normal of remote learning. During the upheaval of that period, NLU’s community stepped up in a big way to support our students. In a typical year, NLU students make significant sacrifices in order to attend to school. The 2020 pandemic added additional disruptions that impacted their ability to continue their education. But, because of our community’s commitment to NLU’s students, funds were raised to provide emergency support to help them stay on the path to earning their degrees. The generosity of our individual, foundation and corporate donors resulted in 920 awards being made to 705 students and nearly $430,000 were distributed in 2020 through the Emergency Fund and COVID Emergency Tuition Scholarships. This sum was a portion of a larger total to accrue over the following year.

“With 29% of our students reporting a COVID infection, hospitalization, or death in their family, the call to action was clear and urgent. Our faculty and staff stepped up to offer unprecedented support during unprecedented times. In total, NLU secured and distributed over $2.5M in direct aid to our students to support emergency funds, technology access, and basic needs support.” -Aurélio Valente, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students

For several years, NLU has taken active steps to address food insecurity among our students. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has only exacerbated this challenge: recent data reveal that 55% of NLU undergraduate students have experienced basic needs insecurity (food and housing) during the pandemic. 22% of graduate students went an entire day without food, of whom 56% stated they went without food three or more times in the past 30 days.

In 2020, NLU launched our first full-service Food Pantry at our Chicago campus. In the 2020-21 school year, the Pantry supported 120 individual students during 313 visits. Of the students served, 72% were eligible for financial aid, 71% identified as representing a minority group, and 62% were first-generation college students. In fall 2020, donors contributed generously to an appeal in support of the NLU Food Pantry. The results were outstanding: thanks to our donors’ unconditional support, NLU collected and purchased 6,700 pounds of food! Most notably, 98% of students* who visited the Pantry in the winter term enrolled in the next term, persisting in the pursuit of their educational goals.

NLU continues to flourish in rapidly changing times. Our 2030 Strategic Plan anticipates the seismic impact of current events on the future of higher education. We are building on our existing strengths to achieve ambitious yet achievable goals that will provide the foundation for sustained growth as a recognized leader in accessibility, equity, and quality education for anyone who wants to learn. Ultimately, the drastic disruptions of the last two years have only made National Louis University a stronger, more durable institution. Whatever the future holds for higher education, NLU will be prepared.

* The typical student term-to-term persistence rate is 85%.