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Mission Statement Analysis Paper: Harper College and Northeastern Illinois University

Dulce I Hernandez

Department of Counseling and Higher Education, Northern Illinois University

HESA 500: Foundations of Higher Education

Dr. Katy Jaekel

September 18th 2021

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This paper will look at Rainey William Harper Community College and Northeastern

Illinois University’s mission statements. Both institutions are on different classifications on the

Carnegie Classification of Institutions of higher education. Harper College is a two-year public

institution. It offers undergraduate instructional programming, including associate, mixed

transfer, vocational, and technical degrees. It is also a high transfer, high nontraditional

associate’s college (Carnegie, 2021). Northeastern Illinois University is a level 4-year and above

institution that offers undergraduate degrees that includes balanced arts and sciences professions

and some graduate coexistence. Their postbaccalaureate programs are comprehensive. (Carnegie,

2021). While these two institutions differ in their classification, they share some similarities.

Harper College’s mission statement starts with, “Harper College enriches its diverse

communities by providing quality, affordable, and accessible education” (Harper College, 2021).

Harper recognizes that most of their students are from diverse backgrounds. Schudde and

Goldrick-Rab (1999) describe the composition of the student body population in America’s

colleges. They describe students now as heterogeneous in race, ethnicity, academic ability, pre-

college achievement, effort level, study skills, ambitions, and religious background. The

description of current college students is in line with the population that Harper College claims

to serve. Institutional types matter because not everyone has the exact needs, and it is a way to

specify the type of education one will get. In this case, the type of education students attending

Harper is of quality, affordable, and accessible. (Harper College, 2021). This is important

because students who usually would not have access to education get access, and this has an

impact on their life outcomes. At first glance, one would think that this is good. Students should

have these three when investing in their education. However, Schudde and Goldrick-Rab (1999)

state that community colleges offer broad access to students, but they also maintain inequalities.
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So, although Harper claims to offer quality, affordable, and accessible education, the bigger

picture claims that it is not equitable. Instead, it keeps the top of the pyramid, elite four-year

colleges, at the top without letting others in. Those at the bottom of the pyramid, community

colleges, and for-profit colleges, give students access, who otherwise would not have. The

second part of Harper’s mission statement states, “Harper College, in collaboration with its

partners, inspires the transformation of individual lives, the workforce, and society” (Harper

College, 2021). Harper’s mission statement goes against the “collegiate ideal,” which is living on

a college campus. Instead, Harper focuses on training students to get jobs right after college that

will benefit the student, their workplace, and society. Harper gives credit to other groups that

they work with. Harper College has partnerships with four-year institutions to support students in

obtaining their four-year degrees while still being on Harper’s campus. (Harper College, 2021).

This demonstrates that higher education institutions are evolving their programs to serve diverse

populations of students better.

Northeastern Illinois University states that the university “…as a public, comprehensive

university with locations throughout Chicago provides an exceptional environment for learning,

teaching, and scholarship.” (Northeastern Illinois University, 2021). The Carnegie Classification

of Institutions identifies NEIU as having comprehensive postbaccalaureate programs, but NEIU

states it is a fully comprehensive university. O’Neil (1999) describes the evolution in college

curriculum. When universities first started, they were led by the sciences. This evolved and

resulted in an interdisciplinary approach to education (O’Neil, 1999). NEIU’s claim to being a

comprehensive university may mean that they are interdisciplinary and offer an array of subjects

for students to study. NEIU also states that they have different locations in Chicago. This is a

good marketing tool because students who read this will know that their location may not be an
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issue if they decide to attend NEIU. These two factors make NEIU a place for learning, teaching,

and scholarship, according to their mission statement. This focus aligns with Theilin’s (2011)

“collegiate ideal”, which was not about being trained for a job but being trained for a career.

NEIU also states that they “…prepare a diverse community of students for leadership and

service in our region and a dynamic multicultural world.” (Northeastern Illinois University,

2021). This last statement is in line with NEIU’s initial claim that they are a comprehensive

university, they train students for careers. It also adds a different take to their mission. This last

sentence asserts that NEIU also prepares its students for jobs in diverse communities. Not only

does NEIU prepare its students for careers, but it also prepares its students for jobs in

multicultural communities.

Although Harper and NEIU are different institutions, they have similarities. One thing

that makes both of these schools unique is that they claim to be prepared to serve different

populations of students. Harper does this by having partnerships with four-year colleges to help

students get a bachelor’s degree from a community college. NEIU has different campus

locations. This does not only benefit them, but it benefits students because commute times are

shorter, and they have easier access. Renn and Reason (2021) say that “There is a growing sense

that ‘nontraditional’ is the new norm in higher education…the diversity of social identities of

college students continues to open higher education institutions to groups of students previously

underserved…” (p. 49). Harper and NEIU are institutions that have missions to create spaces for

students that are considered nontraditional.

Another similarity they have is that they both prepare students for jobs in a continuously

diverse society. Both mission statements end on that note that they prepare students for jobs.

Although, this is important and necessary work. How are these institutions maintaining inequities
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in higher education? As stated before, prestige, four-year institutions remain at the top with the

same type of students. What can these institutions do to get students to these top schools? These

mission statements could further make it a mission to provide students with access to resources

that are not always offered to them.

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References

Harper College. (2021). Mission, Values, Philosophy, Core Values. Harper College.

https://www.harpercollege.edu/leadership/mission/index.php

Northeastern Illinois University. (2021). Mission, Vision, and Values. Northeastern Illinois

University. https://www.neiu.edu/about/mission-vision-and-values

O’Neil, M. Robert. (1999). Academic Freedom. In Bastedo, Altbach, Gumport. (4th Edition.),

American Higher Education in the 21st Century Social, Political, and Economic

Challenges (pp. 35-59). John Hopkins University Press.

Renn, A. Kristen., & Reason, D. Robert. 2021. College Students in the United States:

Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes. Stylus Publishing.

Schudde, T. Lauren., & Goldrick-Rab, Sara. 1999. Extending Opportunity, Perpetuating

Privilege. In Bastedo. Altbach. Gumport. (4th Edition.), American Higher Education in

the 21st Century Social, Political, and Economic Challenges (pp. 345-374). John

Hopkins University Press.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. (2021).

https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/lookup.php

Thelin, R. John. 2011. A History of American Higher Education. John Hopkins University Press.
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Appendix A

Harper College Mission Statement

Harper College enriches its diverse communities by providing quality, affordable, and accessible

education. Harper College, in collaboration with its partners, inspires the transformation of

individual lives, the workforce, and society

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Appendix B

Northeastern Illinois University Mission Statement

Northeastern Illinois University, as a public comprehensive university with locations throughout

Chicago, provides an exceptional environment for learning, teaching, and scholarship. We

prepare a diverse community of students for leadership and service in our region and in a

dynamic multicultural world.