The NIU Office of Admissions has set up the first data base to specifically inform minorities about NIU.

The data base will buy the names of minority students who have taken the ACT from that company, and expressed an interest in college, said Bob Burk, admissions office associate director. NIU will send the prospective students information about NIU in order to provide insight on what NIU offers as a university and information about a specific area, he said.

NIU has used a data base before to obtain students’ names interested in college. However, this is the first data base used by NIU to get the names of minority students exclusively, Burk said.

The admissions office also works with other programs by sharing qualified students’ names, Burk said. For example, NIU’s Honors Program receives a list of names of qualified for the program. The honors program then sends qualified students information about benefits of the program, Burk said.

The two groups work together by visiting interested students at their high school, indicated by the ACT. These students then have the opportunity to ask representatives from those groups questions about NIU and the programs they might be interested in, Burk said.

Data bases are used by other schools as well, usually private schools, to increase admissions. The NIU admission’s office expects the data base to increase admissions, he said.