Northern Illinois University
Family and Consumer Sciences
College of Health and Human Sciences

Human Development and Family Sciences is a major that prepares you to work as a professional serving families and individuals. Your course work includes learning about human development and family systems and the influences they have on each other during all life stages.

Our bachelor of science degree program includes three areas of emphasis within the major:

• Family relations, prevention and wellness (FRPW), which focuses on general human development and research (see sample degree path)
• Family social services, which teaches skills for social service careers (see sample degree path)
• Child development, which prepares professionals working with infants, toddlers and young children (see sample degree path)

All three areas provide a foundation for graduate studies.

As a student in this program, you’ll have the opportunity to work in our on-campus Child Development and Family Center, an award-winning teaching and research facility that provides inclusive, full-day, mixed-age child care. The Child Development Lab is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Our program also prepares you to become a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) as approved by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). You may also be eligible to receive several early childhood related Gateways credentials through the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA).