DeKALB – Even though fall enrollment figures are down by 860 students at Northern Illinois University, officials said Wednesday they were encouraged by the types of students coming to the school.
There are 22,990 students enrolled for the fall semester, according to the official, mandated 10-day count that occurred Friday. That's down from 23,850 students in 2010.
This year's enrollment numbers were not a surprise, said Brian Hemphill, NIU's vice president for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management.
Staff members have been tracking the numbers for months, he said, and the totals reflect economic difficulties, an overall decline in high school graduates in Illinois and competition from other colleges and universities.
The 10-day count found 2,590 freshmen, down from 2,705 in 2010. Also down is transfer students – 2,134 this year compared with 2,294 in 2010.
There are a total of 17,306 undergraduates this year, down from 17,886 last year. There are 5,365 graduate students – down from 5,633 last year – and 319 enrolled in the law school, down from 331 last year.
Economic turbulence and an uncertain employment outlook for teachers affected the undergraduate and graduate enrollments within NIU's College of Education, Deputy Provost Earl Seaver said in a news release from NIU.
Enrollment has peaks and valleys, Hemphill said, and NIU has moved beyond the valleys in the past. Enrollment in 2001, for instance, was 23,783, according to Daily Chronicle archives. NIU enrollment reached a peak of 25,313 students in 2006.
Hemphill said competition for college students is fierce, and higher education institutions are vying for a smaller number of students.
The number of high school graduates statewide declined from 2009 to 2010, according to Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Mary Fergus. It was 138,971 in 2009 and 137,601 in 2010, she said. The 2011 number is being finalized, she said.
This fall's freshman class at NIU comes from more than 430 high schools from Illinois and 24 states and has an average ACT score of 21.9, which is four-tenths-of-a-point increase over the previous year.
The average grade-point average was 3.06, consistent with the 2010 incoming freshman average GPA, according to the news release. NIU President John Peters has noted that enrollment in the NIU Honors Program is approaching 1,000 students – a 13 percent increase over last fall.
Officials said that reinforces the trend that new students are bringing excellent credentials to the institution, enhancing the quality of the school's academic programs.
"One of the positive things we feel good about is the academic profile of the incoming class," Hemphill said.
There are many factors that go into a student's choice of where to attend college, NIU spokesman Brad Hoey said. Those include safety and security issues, Hoey said when asked if campus officials think the slaying of freshman Antinette "Toni" Keller and the shooting of football player Devon Butler – which both happened during the 2010-11 academic year – played a roll in the decreased number of students.
"I'm not sure you can say that is the main factor, but it can't be discounted. It would be naive to think so," Hoey said. "... We've had some challenges here, but we don't want to be defined by challenges of the past. We want to be defined by our aspirations for the future."
NIU officials reiterated Wednesday their plan to chart the school's future through Vision 2020, an initiative that aims to make the school the premier student-centered public research university in the Midwest. It also aims for a total enrollment of 30,000 students, more than doubling the number of incoming freshmen in the top 10 percent of their class by that year and providing more merit-based scholarships.
Hemphill said NIU officials believe they will meet the goals outlined in Vision 2020. Many steps are being taken to hit those benchmarks, he said. His staff, for instance, is working to better communicate with prospective students and their parents, as well as working to meet the needs of students already at NIU.
The university also is taking steps to attract students through upgrading existing facilities and building residence halls, he said, as well as making more money available for scholarships.
"We very much believe we can do it. This is an initiative that is going to take a little bit of time. We realize that," Hoey said. "... We have set the bar high for ourselves because that is what Vision 2020 is about."
NIU enrollment numbers for past 3 years
Total fall enrollment in 2009: 24,424
Total fall enrollment in 2010: 23,850
Total fall enrollment in 2011: 22,990
New freshmen in 2009: 3,033
New freshmen in 2010: 2,705
New freshmen in 2011: 2,590
New transfers in 2009: 2,100
New transfers in 2010: 2,294
New transfers in 2011: 2,134
Total undergraduate in 2009: 18,277
Total undergraduate in 2010: 17,886
Total undergraduate in 2011: 17,306
Total graduate students in 2009: 5,838
Total graduate students in 2010: 5,633
Total graduate students in 2011: 5,365
Total law students in 2009: 309
Total law students in 2010: 331
Total law students in 2011: 319
Source: Northern Illinois University