Our Opportunities

At North Central, it’s not just about what happens in the classroom to prepare you for life after college.

We develop exceptional graduates by offering unparalleled opportunities to ensure you graduate with a resumé that will not only set you apart, but also prepare you to thrive.

Here are a few examples of how our students have taken advantage of all that North Central has to offer:

National Research Opportunities

Associate professor of psychology and neuroscience Dr. Michael T. Stefanik received a $632,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support his work examining novel treatments for prescription opioid craving and relapse. North Central not only competed with much larger universities for the grant but is also one of just a few liberal arts schools in the U.S. to ever receive this research grant.

This provides the opportunity for our undergraduate students to get involved in nationally recognized research that will have real-world applications and outcomes, whereas most of the institutions have full-time teams of masters, Ph.D., or post-doctoral trainees conducting their studies.

Study Abroad

As an Honors student, Ian LaPat ’24 was required to integrate his classroom learning with a domestic or international immersion experience. Although he was nervous at first, he culminated his college career having studied in four different countries.

National Athletic Success

Hailey Poe ’25 thrives when she can use her multitudes of talents in different ways. A four-time individual national champion in triathlon and three-time team national champion, she is also the first Cardinal to win the same women’s national championship four consecutive years. She doesn’t just excel in athletics, either. As an Honors student, she is studying ethical leadership and sport management, is a first-year mentor and also volunteers with the Special Olympics.

The Coffee Lab

Justin Simbol ’20/M’24 took his experience from brewing coffee in North Central’s Coffee Lab to his job as a demand planning specialist with Dutch Bros. Coffee. His degrees in economics and finance and his graduate assistantship in the Coffee Lab is a combination only North Central can offer, since it’s one of a few collegiate facilities of its kind in the United States and the first laboratory with a primary focus on the business of coffee!

Career Preparation

There’s a reason why North Central students are some of the most sought-after graduates. You work hard to gain the skills necessary to pursue your passion, and our Center for Career and Professional Development provides to tools to build a stand-out resumé. You will graduate confident in your preparation and ready to pursue whatever comes next, whether it be graduate school, service, or a job.

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