DeKALB – NIU’s 10-day Fall 2024 enrollment numbers show slight decreases in undergraduate and graduate student populations but increases in transfer students and law students.

NIU released its 10-day enrollment which contained how many students were enrolled at NIU after 10 days of class. Total Fall 2024 enrollment was 15,415, a decrease of 89 students from the fall 2023 semester.

GRADUATE/LAW ENROLLMENT

There were 1,462 new transfer students in Fall 2024, 137 more than Fall 2023. Most new transfer students, 856, were junior-standing.

All new masters, doctoral and law students increased by 25, 42 and 22 students, respectively. Within their total enrollments, only the law school saw increased enrollment, 7.6% or 24 students.

Laurie Elish-Piper, executive vice president and provost, discussed some aspects of graduate and law school recruiting that differ from undergraduate recruiting.

“A lot of the efforts that we’re seeing in graduate programs is because of particular outreach and partnership and marketing efforts that individual programs are doing,” Elish-Piper said. “And so we’re seeing the growth because of those efforts, because graduate programs are so different from one another.”

When students evaluate graduate programs, they are often evaluating individual faculty and focuses that match their interest and fields of study, according to Elish-Piper.

UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT

Fall 2023 undergraduate enrollment was 11,358; Fall 2024 undergraduate enrollment was 11,349. The decrease between the fall 2023 and fall 2024 semesters was nine students. 

Fall 2023 graduate student enrollment was 3,832; Fall 2024 graduate enrollment was 3,728. The decrease between the fall 2023 and fall 2024 semesters was 104 students. 

The incoming freshman class consists of 1,991 students, 211 less than Fall 2023 freshman class. Sol Jensen, vice president for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, discussed the impacts the FAFSA delays could have had. 

“We (NIU) just didn’t know to what extent (FAFSA delays could impact NIU enrollment), I mean, to be honest, we didn’t know a lot about what was happening with the Department of Education at all, because things happened so late and there were so many errors,” Jensen said.

The FAFSA delays did impact completion, and Jensen noted that 9% fewer students had completed the FAFSA.  

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT

In Fall 2023, there were 1,041 international students representing 73 different countries; in Fall 2024, fewer students, 972, represented a larger number of countries, 81. 

“Much of the effort to recruit international students is through partnerships with universities in other countries,” Elish-Piper said. “And then, also, we find that our own international students tend to be great recruiters as well.”

Elish-Piper also noted the importance of individual faculty members and departments developing relationships and partnerships in other countries.