Mission and Identity

Mission

The mission of North Park University, as the University of the Evangelical Covenant Church, is to prepare students for lives of significance and service through education in the liberal arts, professional studies, and theology.

Vision

Building on our core institutional identity—Christian, city-centered, intercultural—our vision is to create a university of uncommon character and enduring excellence, where faith, learning, and service meet.

Aspiration

North Park University will be distinguished as the nation’s leading city-centered Christian university during the coming decade and beyond.

The University’s learning community is differentiated by adopting the city as both subject and place of learning as a foundation for academic excellence. Within this framework, the University educates students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and prior academic experiences, practicing Christian hospitality with students of all faith traditions while centering in the Affirmations of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

The University will be known through its graduates who are equipped in their respective careers to advance the vitality of the world’s people and their cities, prepared to cross cultures, and formed in Christian community for leadership and service in the church and the world.

Educational Ideals

Within our distinctive learning community, where Christian faith, learning, and service meet, students at North Park University experience an education that:

• Is rooted in and committed to the Christian faith and its sacred text, the Bible
• Engages Chicago as a dynamic context for learning and service
• Embraces all people and celebrates the richness of cultural difference
• Affirms learning in all its forms-in the classroom and beyond-as a gift, a joy, and a sacred obligation
• Encourages dialogue as a means of learning where open inquiry, integrity, and civility guide our life together
• Seeks to form and transform the whole student (intellectually, socially and spiritually) to their individual capacity
• Values each student for who he or she is and will become

Core Values

The University’s academic programs and learning environment are informed by three institutional values. Our community is:

Christian – We nurture faith, balancing commitment and freedom.

City-centered – We engage Chicago as a dynamic place of learning and service.

Intercultural – We embrace and value all people, celebrate the global cultural tapestry, and support the reconciling mandate of the Christian gospel.