Northwestern School of Professional Studies

I couldn’t be happier with my experience at NU SCS. All professors have/​do teach in the «day school» and are more than qualified. Courses have been challenging and all that I could ask for. I intend to look into a masters program when I’ve completed my bachelors course if study. I highly recommend NU SCS.

There is a huge difference between the School of Continuing Studies and Northwestern University. The School of Continuing Studies is more of a glorified community college/​trade school. The education is sub-​par and cost $ 4,350 per class (more if you are taking online courses). Simply put, it is not worth the money.
The GRE/​GMAT is not required because this a for profit school, and will accept almost everyone (I believe the acceptance rate is upper 90%). It is really difficult to get the university to give you any information (ex: retention rate, graduation rate, acceptance rate, etc), because they know the program does not live up to the Northwestern name. It is basically a cash cow for the university.
I wanted to get my masters in information systems, however there really is little weight to having NW SCS on your resume. The masters classes are not masters courses, they are also open to those who have not received their undergraduate degree also. At the end of a day, if looking for a masters program in IT in Chicago I would recommend something tied to a strong business school (UIC, Depaul, Loyola, IIT, etc). Those programs list their credentials and have more set schedules. Northwestern frequently changes their schedule and the availability of classes makes it difficult to graduate on time. I spoke with several SCS graduates prior to taking a class and they all told me to be very careful with scheduling courses. Graduating in 2 years is very difficult.
I do not regret taking a class, I did learn some information. However, it was all self-​taught. The course was literally word for word slides from the book. But the tests were not related to the textbook, so it was a horrible class structure. I just advise to tread cautiously. It is a lot of money, even if your company is paying for it. I only took 1 course, so maybe others have better reviews. However, I was always a little apprehensive from the beginning and would prefer to attend another university.

Would give it 2.5 stars if I could… but closer to 2 than 3!
I am a current adult student at SCS and have to say my experience has been mixed. I’ve had some amazing courses with NU professors that have been challenging and incredibly rewarding, but I’ve had many MORE courses where I felt that in the end I learned nothing. Instructors were unprepared or unqualified, not always sure which; and some just seemed to have the job to tell stories and talk about themselves in front of a captive audience! I realize this is not officially NU, but SCS is affiliated with Northwestern University — and I definitely expected higher standards for that reason.
My advice if you take classes here is ask around — ask current students about the professors. We are always willing to share our experiences and help each other get the best education possible. Also, please know that advising is absolutely atrocious! How they do not have qualified advisors for adult students trying to navigate their way through college is beyond me. Ask a lot of questions (again, current students are the best resource) and find out all you can on your own. You will have to figure a lot out by yourself.
Bottom line, I expected more from Northwestern and most students I’ve gotten to know feel the same. You’ll get a good education (if you work for it) and, of course, a Northwestern University diploma! But I sometimes wonder if this will prepare me for graduate school. I guess we’ll see… Good luck!

I will start out by saying I was not accepted to Northwestern’s SCS program. I took time off from school to pursue a career field that ended up getting me laid off.
Northwestern puts a lot of hype into this program but there is a lot of fine print. First, they shower you with info sessions harping on the fact that adult students are unique and so admission standards are different from the «day school» as they call it. One admissions coordinator said they always got calls from adult students weary of applying because they did not have the most stellar transcripts. The same coordinator went on to answer questions during a Q&A and one perspective student asked what the admission standards were, which was replied with a laughing «pretty good».
Also, they tend to not go into the fact that all classes in the program must be taken at night. You can take a maximum of three day classes but they must be approved by the dean. Second, they do not offer any kind of housing. It would be nice if they could offer adult students some type of upper-​classmen housing.
Last, the admin can be pretty mean. They don’t return phonecalls or emails. I was constantly ignored during the application process. I was also informed in my rejection letter that I could take classes as a «student-​at-​large» and then re-​apply. This basically means I can take classes for no credit, pay in cash and they might look at my application again.
Northwestern’s SCS is just a money-​making machine. They want your employer or you to pay for your tuition. Scholarships and grants are limited. If you live in Chicago and want to return to school, I would look at Loyola or DePaul.

I’m currently a student in Northwestern University’s School of Continuing Studies finishing a bachelor’s degree I started a hundred years ago in Champaign. The School of Continuing Studies is a great opportunity for working people or otherwise non-​traditional students to pursue degrees or take classes as students-​at-​large.
One of the best aspects of SCS is their admissions policy. For students who have been out of school for several years, or who have less than stellar transcripts, SCS admits them on a probationary status whereby students take four courses, and their admission into a degree program is based on their grades in those four courses, which are then applied to their total hours earned toward their degree.
Also, compared to other private universities in Chicago offering continuing education programs, SCS is very affordable. I’ve met several students from Loyola’s and DePaul’s continuing education programs in my classes who were taking classes at Northwestern and transferring them back to their own programs in order to save on tuition.
I’ve taken so many interesting classes taught by brilliant professors, that I’ve enjoyed going back to school more than I thought I would.