NIU ranks high for total enrollment and full-time equivalency compared to other state colleges, according to an Illinois Board of Higher Education report.

NIU ranked third in total enrollment and fourth in full-time equivalency among Illinois public universities for the fall 1989 semester, the report stated.

Full-time equivalency is computed by dividing the total number of credit hours by either 12 credit hours for graduate students or 15 for undergraduate students.

University of Illinois at Urbana leads enrollment at 37,480 students, with Southern Illinois University at Carbondale second with 24,596 students, said Ross Hodel, IBHE deputy director.

An official count on the tenth day of fall classes recorded NIU enrollment at 24,443, said Nicholas Noe, director of NIU Institutional Research at finance and planning.

“We normally have (an extra) 1,000 or more students by the end of the semester because of late-starting classes,” Noe said. Historically, NIU enrollment falls between 24,500 and 25,000, he said.

However, enrollment generally decreases during the spring semester, Noe said. He estimated enrollment at 23,000 for the first official count day.

This amount is “slightly lower because some students leave and students tend to start college in the fall semester,” Noe said. As of the first fall count, NIU enrolled 17,093 full-time and 7,350 part-time students, Noe said.