Northwestern University is a private university with graduate business programs in Evanston, Illinois. Those programs run through the Kellogg School of Management. The institution is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
The business school holds AACSB accreditation. It is the longest-established of the three business-school accreditors recognized in the United States, and it covers the school as a whole rather than any one program - a floor, not a ranking. More on accreditation.
Federal reporting puts graduate enrollment at 14,457 students, alongside 9,201 undergraduates. Total enrollment is not MBA cohort size - ask the admissions office how many students are in the specific program you're considering, which is usually a far smaller number and the one that shapes your experience.
Based on MBA Lab's directory data, the school offers a graduate MBA path, an executive MBA (EMBA) format designed for experienced professionals, and a part-time or evening MBA format for students who keep working. That puts it among the 4 of 10 schools in MBA Lab's Illinois directory listing an executive MBA. Format availability changes; confirm the current lineup with the school before planning around it.
It is the only school in Evanston in this directory - the other 9 MBA program options in Illinois are elsewhere in the state, so weigh travel time against fit before ruling them out.
What to ask Northwestern University
These questions are picked from what MBA Lab's data already says about this school, so they're the ones most likely to surface a real difference between it and the next school on your list.
- Published price vs. actual price. Private institutions like Northwestern University often discount heavily through merit aid, so the sticker figure is rarely what admitted students pay. Ask what share of the incoming class receives institutional aid and the median award.
- Cohort experience level. An EMBA's value is largely the room. Ask for the average years of work experience, the seniority mix, and how many classmates are employer-sponsored - a cohort of directors and a cohort of five-years-in analysts are different products at the same price.
- Pace flexibility. Ask how long students typically take, whether you can drop to one class during a heavy work quarter without penalty, and how late evening sections actually run against your commute from work.
- Where the degree is administered. Programs run through the Kellogg School of Management may have their own admissions timeline, aid pool, and career office, separate from the university's central graduate school. Confirm which office owns your application.
- Ask for the school's own outcome numbers. The federal figures on this page cover business master's graduates who took federal aid, pooled across several years. The school's employment report will be narrower and more current - ask for it by program and by graduating class, not a blended average.