Skip to contentSkip to footer
      employer cover photo
      employer logo
      employer logo

      Northwestern University

      Is this your company?

      Northwestern University reviews

      4.0

      75% would recommend to a friend

      (4,087 total reviews)
      avatar

      Michael Schill

      56% approve of CEO

      53% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      3.9

      Diversity & inclusion

      3.9

      Work/Life balance

      3.8

      Culture & values

      3.6

      Career opportunities

      3.4

      Compensation and benefits

      3.3

      Senior management

      Northwestern University has an employee rating of 4.0 out of 5 stars, based on 4,087 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Northwestern University employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Education industry (3.7 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      4K reviews
      4.0
      Jan 29, 2009

      Work there if you can afford to...

      Program assistant ii
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      The benefits packages are nice. They have matching retirement and throw in 5% on top of that. Reduced tuition is also a plus. Most staff members are nice and welcoming (please don't be put off by a few bad apples).

      Cons

      The pay, the pay, the pay. Good lord is it bad. As a Program Assistant II, my salary works out to $16.35/hr. Take out deductions, taxes, etc. and there's not much more to life off of. The other downside is that some of the faculty can be condescending toward staff by talking down to them, having a fit when something cannot be fixed easily (or at all for that matter) and general disrespect (some of the men are a bit sexist).

      3.0
      Jan 22, 2009

      Good employer with good benefits, lower pay than you might expect

      Research associate
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Great benefits, excellent university, good opportunities to advance your career in academia, and challenging, high-quality research environment. You are surrounded by some of the top minds doing interesting work on a truly endless range of subjects. A great place to be if you like to stay up-to-date on academic trends - my experience with researchers here is that they work very hard to get ahead. Evanston is a nice city, and you can enjoy some good outdoor spaces during breaks. My experience is that people in general are friendly and helpful in cross-departmental interactions. Also, there are good opportunities to move within the university after 1 year of service.

      Cons

      Low pay, mid- to upper-level management are not always competent, slow-moving administrative processes (like all universities, or so I've heard), high expectations with little reward or incentive. Because it is a Research 1 institution, the pace can be high-pressure at times. In my experience, staff are often not always recognized often for their good work. Negotiations about employment have been less than stellar, and some HR processes involve lists of seemingly endless forms for small changes (probably not unique to NU!) The location is nice, but you are slightly out of Evanston, so it's not always convenient if you don't drive.

      Viewing 4075 - 4077 of 4,087 Reviews
      Related searches: Northwestern University jobs | Northwestern University salaries | Northwestern University benefits | Northwestern University interviews
      ReviewsNorthwestern University reviews

      Glassdoor has 4,470 Northwestern University reviews submitted anonymously by Northwestern University employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Northwestern University is right for you.