DeKalb High School graduates are not necessarily at NIU because it’s close to home.

“I think NIU is a great option for DeKalb,” said Director of Admissions Bob Burk.

Even though DeKalb residents can still reside in their permanent residencies, they are also given the option to live on campus.

“A number of these students will be living on campus [rather than commuting] freshman year,” Burk said.

Some students consider NIU just like any other university and made their choice based on academic opportunities offered.

“The business school is top ranked,” said freshman finance major and DHS graduate Chris Wong.

Other DHS graduates coincidentally ended up back in DeKalb after attending a different college, some due to financial reasons.

“To be honest, Northern was not my first choice,” said junior kinesiology major Ryan Anderson. “I went to North Central College in Naperville, but that ended up being too expensive, so I was forced to move home.”

The same string of events happened to Anderson’s brother, senior pre-elementary major Kyle Anderson, who was also attending North Central College.

“I decided to move back and finish up at NIU to save money,” he said.

For a few others, NIU’s tuition played a large role.

“NIU was the most economically sound choice for our family,” said Sarah Burke, a senior French and literature major.

However, for students like Sarah Balli, a junior hospitality administration major, NIU’s location was the deciding factor for staying in DeKalb.

“I guess I chose NIU because it’s at most a five minute drive from wherever I come from in DeKalb,” Balli said. “I can also work at my jobs more, be around my family for a little while longer and save up more money for when I move to another city.”

Regardless of reasons for attending, DeKalb High School is one of the top contributors to NIU’s freshman class. In fall 2007, 38 out the of 2,050 enrolled freshman as well as 290 out of the overall 18,917 undergraduates are DHS graduates, Burk said.