The public good in action: Roosevelt's 30 years in Schaumburg
Thirty years ago, Roosevelt University opened its doors in Schaumburg with a straightforward promise: bring high-quality, accessible higher education to the Northwest suburbs and give it back to the communities that need it most.
This year, as we mark our 30th anniversary serving the Village of Schaumburg and the Northwest suburbs, that promise has only deepened over time. Consider Freddy Gomez: a 26-year-old first-generation Mexican American who grew up in Chicago, earned his Doctor of Pharmacy at Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus in 2024 and now manages a Walgreens pharmacy in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, where he serves one of the city’s largest Latino communities.
“In the pharmacy profession, there’s not a lot of Hispanic pharmacists, Mexican pharmacists, but it’s important for us to be here — not just because we speak the same language. We share the same values, we understand the same struggles, same culture,” Gomez told WTTW.
That connection, he adds, builds trust. Freddy is not an outlier. He is the embodiment of what Roosevelt University Schaumburg has been doing for three decades.
You don’t have to go far to find examples of skepticism about higher education’s value, affordability or trustworthiness. There is bipartisan consensus that colleges and universities need to deliver on the public good, not just private benefit. At Roosevelt University, we take that mandate seriously. Colleges and universities serve their communities by training the next generation of the workforce, developing skills in problem-solving, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
A liberal arts education also fosters cultural awareness, ethical reasoning and social responsibility. Those skills are in urgent demand; the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects healthcare and social assistance will be the single fastest-growing industry sector through 2034, adding approximately 1.9 million job openings per year nationally, and our graduates are positioned to fill them. Our graduates return to live and work in these communities, bringing the skills and dispositions needed to serve the greater good.
That preparation has produced a generation of professionals who are already making their mark. Over the past 30 years, Roosevelt University Schaumburg has graduated more than 11,000 students across more than 30 programs spanning health sciences, pharmacy, biomedical sciences, business, psychology, biology, biotechnology and related fields. Of those graduates, many remain in the Chicago metro and Northwest suburban area, returning to careers in the very communities they studied in. Their presence in our neighborhoods is a direct reflection of our mission: a Roosevelt education is designed to come back to the community that made it possible.
Roosevelt supports local businesses directly through Roosevelt's Incubator for Schaumburg Enterprises (RISE), a University-anchored incubator that supports early-stage Schaumburg-area business ventures through workspaces, skill-building workshops, mentorship and student intern support. In its inaugural year, RISE supported 12 small businesses across industries including food services, retail, technology, healthcare, consulting and creative services while providing six Roosevelt interns with valuable real-world experience.
Founded by Roosevelt and the Village of Schaumburg, RISE has already strengthened the local small-business ecosystem, helped entrepreneurs prepare for investor conversations and secured continued Community Development Block Grant funding. Building on that momentum, RISE expanded in 2026 to support 22 active startup businesses and 15 Roosevelt interns. RISE is an example of our commitment to collaborative social impact, advancing local economic development while building workforce-ready student talent.
After 30 years as a neighbor in Schaumburg, Roosevelt is evolving as a partner in the fields of science, health, technology and business, particularly for transfer and graduate students. The need has never been greater. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of occupational therapists will grow 14% from 2024 to 2034, nearly five times the average rate for all occupations, with approximately 10,200 new job openings expected each year over the decade.
Physician assistants face even steeper demand; the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 20% employment growth through 2034, generating around 12,000 openings annually. Pharmacists, meanwhile, see approximately 14,200 openings projected per year through 2034, with a median annual wage of $137,480. These are not abstract national figures. They represent real needs right here in the northwest suburbs and throughout greater Chicago.
That is why, beyond the long-standing and successful Pharmacy program, Roosevelt University Schaumburg is launching an Occupational Therapy program (Fall 2026) and a Physician’s Assistant program (Fall 2028), as well as more research-focused master’s and doctoral degrees in Integrated Biomedical Science. These additions ensure that Roosevelt supports Schaumburg and greater Chicago area by preparing our students to serve their communities.
In contrast to the heated national rhetoric about the value of higher education, we at the Schaumburg campus have had the same mission for three decades: a commitment to preparing students to meet the needs of their communities. We ask you to partner with us in this endeavor, by exploring our academic offerings, reaching out to share specific community needs, creating internships at your company that give our student’s real-world learning experiences or working with RISE to support economic development.
Roosevelt University Schaumburg is proud to be a long-standing, active member of this vibrant community and welcomes you to join us as we support local students and businesses.
• Dr. Mike Maly, is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Roosevelt University, where he oversees academic programs, faculty and student success initiatives across the University’s campuses.