Northeastern Illinois University Reviews of Master's in Education

"Although there are some excellent professors, especially in some programs like music and the natural sciences, many others are obviously incompetent - haven't read anything in their respective fields in years, have lowered standards to high school or even grade school levels, there are way too many classes where you can pass or even get As just for showing up without any weapons. I had one graduate level reading class in teachers ed where the only requirement was that we read four children's books, and the class negotiated that downward. We spent every day hearing that we shouldn't teach to tests, then we would hear the answers to some multiple choice test we didn't actually take. That was the entire class. I had a sociology professor who was clearly just making stuff up. She told us one day the the word, picnic, was racist, even after a student showed her that the etymology was French. I had a Criminal Justice professor who got his degree from an online fake college (he bragged about it in class!). The problem of being in a program with very low academic standards isn't obvious while you're in the program, it was very easy to do while working full time, but the reputation of the school is so poor that except for the Chicago Public Schools, you can't use a degree to even get in the door at any suburban public or metropolitan area private schools. One principal even told me, apologetically, in their experience "too many NEIU graduates aren't adequately literate." Ouch. A couple of years before I started the program, I ignored the news that the school was in accreditation trouble in a couple of programs like social work and education. Their solution for education where an unforgivable high percentage were failing certification tests was that undergrad ed students weren't classified as education majors until after successfully passing the certification exam...thus converting the program to close to 100% passing (and how that wasn't 100% I don't know), all those who failed weren't technically education majors! The internship program was terrible, I basically taught a CPS class by myself without supervision while the full time "teacher" hid in the teachers lounge on the days she even showed up. In all fairness, I did learn a lot in that trial by fire, from the students who actually appreciated someone in the classroom who was trying, no matter how ineptly. I did get a job as a CPS sub but I could have gotten that with just my math undergraduate degree, I later got a good teaching gig after I got an M.A. from a real college, again in math, but I also challenged the teaching certification exam (which you can do without an education degree I only found out after NEIU) and passed. I would advise any potential students to weigh the pros and cons here. It's an easy school with very low standards, so if you're working your way through, that is something to think about. It's also pretty cheap, I found their financial aid department to be difficult but I was able to pay for most of my tuition from savings and work paychecks. On the other hand, the reputation of the school among area employers and universities (if you want to go farther in education) is dismal. I would say, all in all, NEIU is not a wise investment, except for a few specific programs (Natural Sciences, History, Music Education seemed to be programs with much higher standards than the rest of the college)."

"I really enjoy my experience at NEIU. The education is great and affordable. However, the neighborhood is a bit dry. Nothing to do, but laundry and hookah bars. I think the teachers at NEIU could use more training, but overall there are some good ones."

"Northeastern's main pro is affordability. The man con would have to be the school seems outdated."

"Great school that is affordable with competent professors."

"There are a variety of masters programs to choose from in the field of education. The faculty and advisors are easily accessible and helpful. My only concern is their lack of updates on their website; applying and registering for classes had a couple internet errors, but the people I contacted solved the issues almost immediately. I am looking forward to earning my masters through this university!"

"I am in the school counseling program and it is amazing. The faculty is supportive and encouraging, as well as extremely knowledgeable in their counseling areas. I am learning a lot and cannot wait to begin to apply what I am learning in the school setting."