Northwestern University is the only private university of the Big Ten Conference since 1968.
Big Ten Conference . The Big Ten Conference was established in 1895 when Purdue University president James H. Smart and representatives from the University of Chicago , University of Illinois , University of Michigan , University of Minnesota , Northwestern University , and University of Wisconsin gathered at Chicago 's Palmer House Hotel to set policies aimed at regulating intercollegiate athletics . Northwestern University , one of just two full members with a total enrollment of fewer than 30,000 students ( the other is the University of Nebraska -- Lincoln ) , is the lone private university among Big Ten membership ( the University of Chicago , a private university , left the conference in 1946 ) . Northwestern University ( NU ) is a private research university based in Evanston , Illinois , with campuses in Chicago , Illinois , and Doha , Qatar , and academic programs/facilities in Washington , D.C. , and San Francisco , California . Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and remains the only private university in the conference . The Northwestern Wildcats compete in 19 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA 's Division I Big Ten Conference .