For some students, transferring from one school to another is a part of the college experience.

The vast majority of students that transfer to NIU are from community colleges said transfer center coordinator Missy Gillis.

“Our main feeder schools are Illinois public community colleges,” Gillis said, stating that NIU has relationships with the community colleges in the area, including Kishwaukee Community College, College of DuPage, and Waubonsee Community College.

“Northern has historically had a high number of transfer students,” Gillis said.

One of the benefits NIU offers to transfer students from Illinois public community colleges are “compact benefits.” Those who graduate with an associate of arts or sciences degree will be a junior in standing and have their general education requirements completed when they successfully transfer to NIU.

Location matters too. NIU is within an hour-and-a-half drive of 20 community colleges, allowing for students to commute, Gillis said.

But not all students transfer from community colleges. Tiffany Goddard, junior pre-physical therapy major, transferred to NIU from Aurora University.

“I didn’t like the small-school factor, and they didn’t have the exact program I wanted,” Goddard said. NIU is one of the few schools in Illinois that has a pre-physical therapy program, Goddard added.

Honore Wiley, junior organizational communications major, has attended several universities in the past three years. She first enrolled in Loyola University in Chicago. But, financial reasons and difficulties with the university forced her to transfer to Northeastern University.

One reason Wiley transferred from Northeastern University to NIU was Northeastern’s inability to offer all of the classes she needed to graduate in four years.

“I have a better chance of finishing my degree in four years here at NIU,” Wiley said.

Both Wiley and Gillis recommended students who are thinking about transferring to talk to the particular university’s admissions counselors. Wiley said she was never told she had to apply for a major.

“Getting here isn’t the hard part,” Wiley said. “It’s figuring out the requirement that’s the hard part.”