Private university pioneering early childhood education since 1886, with campuses across Chicago and Tampa.
National Louis University offers more than 60 programs across five colleges serving undergraduate and graduate students. The National College of Education, the university's oldest school, specializes in teacher preparation, educational leadership, and educator advancement. The College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences offers doctoral programs in Clinical Psychology and community psychology. Kendall College provides specialized training in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and hospitality management. The university also operates the Harrison Professional Pathways Program, an adaptive learning initiative for college-qualified high school graduates with GPAs between 2.0 and 3.0, which has grown from 85 inaugural students to over 1,500 in five years.
The university's main campus occupies the second through sixth floors of the historic Peoples Gas Building at 122 S. Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago's Michigan Boulevard District, directly across from the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2018, NLU acquired the Gage Building at 18 S. Michigan Avenue to house Kendall College's culinary and hospitality programs, which relocated to brand-new facilities there in summer 2020. The university maintains a regional campus in Tampa, Florida, serving students from 13 counties in the state's central region. Classes are offered in multiple formats including face-to-face, hybrid, and online instruction.
Established in 1886 by Elizabeth Harrison, National Louis University began as the Chicago Kindergarten Training School and played a foundational role in the early childhood education movement. The university's founders helped launch the National Kindergarten Movement and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA). In the 1920s, it partnered with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jane Addams to serve Hull House's immigrant population. The institution transitioned from college to university status in 1990 following a major gift from trustee Michael W. Louis. In 2018, NLU acquired Kendall College's assets, and in 2019 it absorbed students and faculty from the defunct Argosy University, including doctoral students in Clinical Psychology.
In 2025, U.S. News & World Report ranked National Louis University 293–381 nationally. Washington Monthly ranked the university #31 in 2025 and #18 among national universities in 2022. The university has received recognition for social mobility, ranking 328 in U.S. News's Top Performers on Social Mobility in 2019. Seventy-six alumni from the National College of Education have received honorary recognition from the Golden Apple Foundations of Chicago and Rockford.