Enrollment at Northern Illinois University is about the same as last year.
According to the 10-day figures, total enrollment at NIU is 15,415 students. That’s down about a half percent from last fall.
The university said they added more transfer students, but there are fewer freshmen.
NIU administrator Sol Jensen said that delays and complications with FAFSA likely contributed to that -- especially because the university serves many low-income and first-generation students.
“Nationwide, the FAFSA problems negatively impacted students from these vulnerable communities the most, and indeed we saw a lower number of FAFSA form completions among prospective freshmen,” he said.
President Lisa Freeman said they’re seeing positive trends. That includes the increases in transfer students along with new graduate, doctoral, and law students.
Freeman also highlighted growing diversity and the academic excellence of the new students.
“Our focus on removing barriers to a high-quality education continues to attract talented students from all backgrounds who clearly see NIU as a place where they will succeed,” she said.
Although numbers are steady this year, total enrollment is down 7% over the past five years and down 25% over the past decade.
