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Northwestern University

Is this your company?

Pretends to be a great place to work; I know a lot about it as I've been working there for 10 years. - Business Administrator Northwestern University Employee Review

3.0
Feb 6, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you work long enough and your children get excepted to NU, you can benefit from the tuition reduction that is generally ridiculously high. It's hard to be fired if you do nothing but say "Hi" and "Bye" to superiors, work 9 to 5, never have any ideas and never contradict those who are in charge. Very political, and politically correct, very bureaucratic, very unfair unless you meet certain "requirements" for staying. Good benefits comparing to other places.

Cons

If you have talents, abilities to create things, if you really care about the students (who very often are prima donna style students), if you have your principles, run away from that place. Salaries suck comparing to other Universities. If you are a staff member, you'll be seriously underpaid. Everyone, no matter who you are, how many years you dedicated to the University is replaceable. The best NU internal joke: "It's like a beautiful girl. Looks good, treats you like sh..." Many top managers don't have enough education to even get the positions of Deans, Associate Deans, Master Degree program directors and if you are more educated than them--guess what? You are fired or they create such an environment for you that you leave. Many professors don't have Master's degree, some of them did not have even Bachelor's degree in the field. Is not that a shame for the University that pretends being part of IVY League? Students complain about those instructors but if they meet University "spirit", they will never publish those complaints. I can go on and on but will add just one thing---some of their best alums will never give University any money--I know that for a fact. The University never became a dear place for them.

Explore other reviews about Northwestern University

5.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work experience, and I got to work with a professor during the process.

Cons

Can be more difficult to get higher pay

4.0
Jul 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It's steady and stable money. Coworkers can be great, and benefits can be good**

Cons

They recently changed all of the benefits due to the government administration pulling federal funding. They changed from Blue Cross Blue Shield to United so the insurance is pretty bad now, with higher premiums and higher copays. You get a 90% discount on tuition, yet also about 97% of the graduate programs are when you'd be working during a 9-5. So it's nearly impossible to actually utilize your tuition discount. There were a lot of budget cuts, and 3% bonuses were one of the first to go. Your base pay is usually underpaid because it's higher education/nonprofit, and the 3% raise is barely enough to cover the rise of cost of living. So now it's underpaid, bad or unusable benefits, and low morale because there were also so many layoffs with the rest of the employees having to do the work of multiple people. Systems in the university are antiquated and it takes forever for anything to get done and most of it is trial and error. They say there is mobility, but it's only lateral if you're lucky. I've been here for two years and there's been such high turnover in senior management including the President that everything feels up in the air.

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