Like the black plague of the 15th century, state budget cuts might result in population decreases at NIU come the spring semester,according to university officials.

NIU President John La Tourette said the university will have to be extremely strict during registration and admissions in the coming years.

Many returning students who defaulted on their tuition payments were warned this August they would be unable to schedule a full 12 credit hours despite $150,000 allocated toward schedule completion, La Tourette said.

“We have to make decisions on admissions a year in advance,” La Tourette said. “We’re going to have to be extremely strict on admissions for spring semester.”

The cuts made by the state this year are perceived as extensive because academics make up 70 percent of the university budget.

But the weight of the cut fell far heavier outside the realm of academics, La Tourette said.

La Tourette said cuts were not as bad as they could have been because funds had been set aside in the spring, in anticipation of a cut in Springfield.

Eddie Williams, vice president of finance and planning, said the university has implemented a plan to downscale enrollment over the next few years in order to better facilitate the overload of students.

“The university has been on a program to downsize enrollment for the last three years,” Williams said.

LaTourette said that only about 3,200 freshmen were accepted to NIU this fall compared to 3,400 freshmen last year.

The cuts taken by academics this year will eventually lead to increasing class sizes, delayed graduations and faculty leaving due to salary problems, said James Norris, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences.

However, the university retained a high number of students during the summer. Many returning students who normally would have left for jobs or other interests did not do so this year, La Tourette said.

“If the state does not provide funding, tuition will have to go up or we’ll lose good faculty,” Norris said.

“People didn’t get salary increases. The state didn’t provide funds. This is an ongoing process. It’s an everyday process that the president’s office deals with,” Williams said.