To any of the NIU students who will be living in DeKalb this summer: you are not alone.

NIU admissions director Robert Burk said there were 6,703 students enrolled for the summer semester at NIU last year.

“I would guess that most live in the DeKalb/Sycamore area,” Burk said. “Typically, only 25 percent of our undergraduate students are classified as commuting students, and most undergraduates who take on-campus classes live in the community.”

If the summer enrollment rates are similar this year, approximately 4,500 NIU students will be residing in DeKalb this summer.

Joshua Johnson, assistant director of marketing and public relations for Housing and Dining, said that students are already securing dorm rooms for the summer.

“As of this moment, we have 149 bookings,” he said. “We typically continue to get a handful more each week until the summer session begins.”

NIU students can live in the dorms even if they aren’t taking summer classes, Johnson said.

“Current students who were enrolled for spring 2008 or are enrolled for fall 2008 are eligible to live in summer housing even if they are not enrolled for summer session,” Johnson said. “New students must be enrolled for summer session to stay in summer housing.”

Some NIU students stay in DeKalb during the summer to work. Some will be working for the university, Johnson said.

“Over 100 of the students currently signed up for summer housing are scheduled to work for Housing and Dining over the summer,” he said.

There are several Facebook groups dedicated to students staying in DeKalb for the summer, such as “DeKalb Summer 2008,” “Summer in DeKalb 2008” and “All the cool kids stay in DeKalb for the summer.” NIU students began creating similar Facebook groups in 2005. Students in these groups keep their fellow “summer” DeKalb residents up to date on events and parties taking place over the summer months.

Some NIU students have apartments with leases that run through the summer.

Nicholas Scofield, junior business administration major, is one such student.

“I’m sticking around,” Scofield said. “I have my apartment through August.”

However, not every NIU student decides to stay for this reason, Scofield said.

“Even if they have apartments, I know some of my friends are going home,” he said.