Lauren Schumacher

In 2005, Northwestern College was fortunate enough to snag Lauren when she left a high-end retailer after seven years as a top-tier sales associate and denim striker. Much to her dismay, and our fortune, Hogwarts wasn’t hiring.

As a third generation family member of NC, Lauren has held positions in a variety of departments including- admissions, student services, academic advising, marketing, and project management in a quest to consume as much institutional knowledge as she could. Currently, she is serving on the Executive Leadership Team as the Executive Director of Project Management.

Though her chief ambition is to one day control a future Northwestern College Hawaii branch, Lauren busies herself in the meantime running NC’s master schedule, maintaining healthy learning communities, spearheading several new college initiatives, including playing an instrumental role in the College’s cohort conversion in order to ensure on-time graduation for our students. Lauren also independently manages campus improvement projects including the design and execution of several upgraded medical laboratories and NC’s State of the Art Dental Assisting Suite.

Lauren earned a Master of Science in Education with a Specialization in College Administration from Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Go Seahawks!). Prior to that, she earned her BA in Organizational Management from North Park University in Chicago (Go Vikings).

Outside of Northwestern College Lauren remains active within the higher education community through her participation in the Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) including the completion of its Leadership Institute in 2010 (formerly the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities). She has been a presenter and a participant at Private Education Research Council (PERC) and also with Business Education Research of America (BERA). She has also been a member of The Chicago Family Business Council (CFBC) for the last several years.

Lauren brings a unique perspective to the NC team as a 3rd generation family business legacy. She is inspired to continue to foster her Grandma Violet’s lifelong dream to support student’s success.

In her spare time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her friends and family, especially her cat Holly.