Harper College is closed Friday, July 3, for Independence Day (Observed).
Angeline Gabby Aleksov earned an associate degree in arts and social sciences from
Harper in 2025. This fall, the 26-year-old Inverness resident will begin her freshman
year at NIU at the University Center, where she plans to study psychology. 
The University Center at Harper College will offer two new four-year degree programs this fall, bringing the total of bachelor’s degree programs offered on the college’s campus to 11. The new Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Sport Management and Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Administration programs will be made available through Harper’s partnership with DePaul University.
Via the University Center, Harper partners with Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, Roosevelt University and DePaul University to offer a wide range of degree programs with courses taught exclusively by university faculty on Harper’s campus, allowing students to stay close to home and save on tuition and other costs.
Upon completion in the summer of 2027, the University Center will move into the state-of-the-art Canning Student Center, a $101.6 million, 144,000-square-foot facility that will house a variety of student programs and services.
Dr. Sean Warren-Crouch, Harper’s director of college transitions, manages the University Center and the school’s transfer partnerships with four-year institutions. He said University Center students receive the same caliber of curriculum they would at Harper’s partner institutions at a reduced cost that is about the same as at an in-state public institution. Combined with scholarships available from partner schools and Harper, students can see significant savings.
“There are a lot of external costs that a student doesn’t have to worry about,” he said. “If you’re coming to the University Center, most likely you’re still living at home or staying close by, so you’re not paying for dorm rooms or for an apartment at another institution. Your travel costs will be much lower because you’re not traveling out to DeKalb or down to the city or, if you want to go to SIU, down to Carbondale, six hours away. And we don’t require meal plans here, but students are still able to access all of our dining options here on our campus.”
Angeline Gabby Aleksov earned an associate degree in arts and social sciences from Harper in 2025. This fall, the 26-year-old Inverness resident will begin her freshman year at NIU at the University Center, where she plans to study psychology to help people who struggle with mental health.
“It’s tremendous for me, because I live right down the road from Harper,” she said. “It’s amazing that I can do my classes at Harper and use Harper’s library to study, versus driving an hour and a half to DeKalb to go to NIU. That way, I don’t have to live on campus. I don’t have to get a job right away. I can take my time studying and focusing on what I need to learn to be successful in my career.”
Angeline said the support she has received and the learning environment are what made her choose the University Center.
“Having a study space to focus, absorb the material and learn the information, I think, is a very critical part of the learning experience and about school,” she said. “If you don’t have the correct learning environment, how are you going to succeed?”
Sean said the most popular degree programs at Harper’s University Center are psychology and computer science with NIU and business administration with DePaul, but that Roosevelt University’s partnerships in graphic design and elementary education are gaining popularity. The center’s options will expand to include a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice program in the spring of 2027 and a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education program in the summer of 2027, both in partnership with SIU.
“The University Center is a perfect option for a student who does not want to leave home but still wants to have an in-person experience,” he said. “Students are taught by faculty from our partner institutions, so they’re getting the exact same degree they would if they went to those partner institutions. So the first time a student steps foot on a partner campus could be for their graduation day because they’re earning the exact same degree that a student that went there for all four years earned.”