Northwest University graduates include Stella Award winner, Roy L. Pearson Jr, the original plaintiff of Pearson Pants Claim, Senator and Presidential Candidate George McGavin, Nobel Prize winner in Economics george stigler, Nobel Prize in Literature winner Saul Bellow, US Supreme Court Assistant Judge john paul stevens, former Supreme Court Judge and US Representative to the United Nations arthur goldberg, and politician Adlai Ewing Stevenson II. Many graduates from Northwestern University play a very important role in Chicago and Illinois, such as rod blagojevich, former governor of Illinois, Jerry lines, president of Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, Mary Zaman, theater director, and George R.R. Martin, author of the best-selling novel Fire and Ice.

Edward T.Tilly is the CEO of CBOE Holdings, CBOE and C2 Options Exchange. He is also the chairman of the CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE), a genius in Chicago finance, and an alumnus of Northwestern University. Dr Richard Sandel, Chairman and Founder of Chicago Climate Exchange, is also an alumnus and professor of Northwestern University. He pioneered the theory of promoting global environmental protection with market economy model, and once founded the financial futures theory based on bank floating interest rate. As early as the early 1970s, when he was the vice president and chief economist of Chicago Board of Trade, he founded the theory of financial futures based on floating interest rate of banks, which laid a theoretical foundation for the development of modern international financial futures market and was once praised as "the father of financial futures" by the industry. Terry L. Savage, chairman of Cannes Creative Festival, independent director of Chicago Mercantile Exchange, well-known alumni of Northwest University, and independent director of Northwest University Council and Northwest University Memorial Hospital Council. Dennis H. Chookaszian, an independent director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is also a director and alumnus of Northwestern University. Anna Claudia dutra, director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is one of the famous alumni of Kellogg Business School of Northwestern University.

Famous film and television actors and directors who graduated from Northwest University include Ann Margaret, Warren Beatty, David Schwimmer, Anne Duddeck, Zach Braff, marg helgenberger, Julia Louis-Drifas, Jerry springer, Megan Mulally, Charlton Heston, William Daniels, Richard Benjamin and Steven Kobel. Heather hedley and Walter Cole became famous at Broadway Theatre. Scott William Winters, the actor of Cyril O 'O'Leary, a popular character in HBO TV series OZ (Prison Storm), also graduated from Northwest University. In new york, Los Angeles and Chicago, there are many graduates of Northwestern University in theaters, movies and TV. They are called "Northwest University Mafia".

The School of Journalism of Northwest University has graduated many famous journalists and political activists, including 38 Pulitzer Prize winners, such as Elizabeth Bumiller, Vincent Lafley, Colleen O'Daniel, rachel nichols and Michael Wilbern.