OAK LAWN, Ill. — Northwestern College abruptly closed over the weekend due to financial issues.
The for-profit university, located at 9400 S. Cicero Ave., sent an email to students Saturday to let them know they’re closed immediately.
President Lawrence Schumacher cited that the U.S. Department of Education was conducting a review, which disrupted the “regular flow” of federal student aid funds to Northwestern College.
Nursing student Destini Hampton, 38, told WGN News she was “crushed” after reading the email Saturday morning.
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“I worked so hard and so long to get here,” she said. “We never thought they were having difficulties, rumors here and there but no officials said anything to the students.
School officials said students can transfer to the following colleges based on their program. Northwestern College said the schools offer “similar” programs and indicated to them that they will accept the students.
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Dental assisting — Prairie State College
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Medical assisting — Moraine Valley CC
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Health information technology — DeVry University, Moraine Valley CC
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Nursing — Chamberlain University, Malcolm X, Moraine Valley CC, Morton College
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Radiologic Technology — Moraine Valley CC
The full email sent to students is below.
“It is with great regret that I must inform you that Northwestern College, due to severe financial problems, cannot continue to hold classes and will be closing as of July 6, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Education has been conducting a review of the College. When the Department began its review, they also informed the College that, due to the existence of this review, the regular flow of federal student aid funds to the institution has been ended and the College was placed on a reimbursement system, where funds will be delayed for 45 days or more. The College was able to cover the delay in funding for over two years. Unfortunately, the College is no longer able to make alternative arrangements to cover this continuing delay in funding. We explored the possibility of another institution taking over the College but there was not sufficient time for that to happen.
The College has reviewed options for you to complete your academic programs at other postsecondary institutions in the community, and we have identified several institutions that have comparable academic programs and have indicated they will accept our students, provide credit for coursework completed on a satisfactory academic basis and will expediate the admission and enrollment processes. Information on these other institutions is provided in the attachment to this notice and also on our website.
The College will be making arrangements to maintain academic and financial aid records and we will provide any information that you or other institutions may request. We have given notice of our closing to the U.S. Department of Education, our accrediting agency The Higher Learning Commission, and the state licensing agency, the Illinois Board of Education. If you wish to contact any of those agencies, contact information for those agencies appears in our catalog but is also provided in the attachment to this notice.
We understand that you may have questions and the Administration of the College will try to respond as promptly as possible to all questions. We suggest that you direct all questions to [email protected].
In closing, I want to again tell you how sorry I and the leadership of the College are that we have not been able to overcome our financial difficulty and keep the College open. We are very grateful for the opportunity we had to serve you and we wish you every success in the completion of our studies and the pursuit of your careers.
Lawrence Schumacher
President”
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