As North Central College examines its image and identity as an institution, the school is considering the possibility of changing its name to include “Naperville” or “university.”
The evaluation’s part of a larger strategic effort by the university to improve itself and ensure its long-term success. While nothing is set in stone, the idea of a name change has been suggested in a survey that went out to students, faculty, alumni and other members of the North Central community.
That survey asked respondents their thoughts on a number of topics, including whether the word “university” sounds more prestigious than the word “college” and what respondents’ overall perception of Naperville was.
It also asked which of the following would be preferred for a school name: Naperville University, University of Naperville, North Central University of Naperville or leaving the name as North Central College.
Amid an uncertain and tumultuous landscape for institutions of higher education — from fast-changing federal policy to an expected decline in the total number of high school graduates across the country to growing skepticism over the value of higher education — name recognition and branding is key for sustaining the school’s future, North Central College President Abiódún Gòkè-Paríolá said.
Furthermore, the name North Central College is not one that necessarily captures what the school is: a four-year, private university with undergraduate and graduate degree programs in one of the most sought-after cities in Illinois.
“Some people will tell us they thought we’re a community college. Others would say they thought we were a state school because it sounds like North Central Ohio, North Central Arkansas,” Gòkè-Paríolá said.
Historically, North Central College’s location has not always been at the center of its identity, according to Gòkè-Paríolá. When a survey from 2019 showed the university had low name and brand recognition from people outside of the Naperville area, the institution started to reconsider how it markets itself.
Now, as the third largest city in Illinois, North Central College’s location in Naperville is increasingly advertised as a major part of the student experience.
“We definitely always tell people we are located in Naperville so we can make that be more prominent every time” Gòkè-Paríolá said.
Naperville has made national headlines as it garners attention for such things as safety and quality of life. In 2025, Naperville was named the best city to live in America by online rating database Niche for the second consecutive year. It also consistently ranks as the best city to raise a family in America by Niche.
With all the national attention the city has grabbed, aligning North Central College with Naperville helps make it more identifiable for those not from the area.
“If they are in Maryland and you try to recruit them and say, ‘Come to North Central College,’ well, you got your work cut out for you,” Gòkè-Paríolá said. “But when you tell them, ‘Where is it?’ ‘Naperville.’ (They say) ‘Oh, Naperville. I know Naperville’ or ‘I read something about it.’”
On top of that, the name North Central College does not always conjure up the image of a mid-sized university with advanced degree programs, which further contributes to brand recognition issues. Finding a way to emphasize that NCC is a school that offers graduate and doctoral programs is another key aspect to sustaining its future.
The university has not taken any steps to change its name and the survey is still ongoing, but reactions among alums appeared to be mixed, according to Lynn Pries, a retired NCC chaplain who sits on the alumni advisory board.
“Older alums understand college to mean small classes, getting to know your professors, personalized education, personal relationships with other students and the experience that they had when they were students,” Pries said.
But for many younger alums, the word college carries a different connotation.
“Younger alums strongly favor university because North Central has all the aspects of a university, and when they use the term college, it’s less of an academic institution,” Pries said. “One younger alum said her grandmother thought she was going to a two-year school when she said said, ‘I was accepted at North Central College.’ And another younger alum said, ‘I never mentioned the word college’ … she said, ‘I just use North Central.’”
If North Central were to go through with a name change, it would not be the first time the university has done so. When the school was founded in 1861 by leaders of the Evangelical Church, it was known as Plainfield College and located in Plainfield. In 1864, the school changed its name to North-Western College before moving to Naperville in 1870, where it was embraced by the town in the hope that it would fuel Naperville’s prosperity and growth.
The name change at the time was supposed to reflect the school’s ambitions for attracting a broader geographical range of students, according to a North Central College Presidential Prospectus from 2022.
The name North-Western College proved to be an issue for the institution because it was similar to Northwestern University in Evanston, which was established in 1851. In 1926, the school would rename itself North Central College to both better represent its place in the Evangelical world and to distinguish itself from Northwestern University and Naperville, the prospectus said.
With the survey still ongoing, it is unclear if NCC will take steps to change its name. But even if the institution decides not to go down that path, there are other things the school can pursue to help bolster its image.
“Changing the name is one option,” Gòkè-Paríolá said. “Another option is actually just branding yourself.”
What is important, Gòkè-Paríolá emphasized, is to “figure out a way to communicate that we are not the same school even 10 years ago.” Since 2016, the university has added eight advanced clinical degree programs, including a physician assistant program, a doctor of occupational therapy and doctor of physical therapy program.
“How can we communicate that we are, in fact, a university, and that we are located in Naperville?” Gòkè-Paríolá said. “That’s really it, and that could be as simple as North Central University of Naperville.”
cstein@chicagotribune.com
