A 2003 DeKalb Chamber of Commerce study showed the university’s presence in DeKalb results in about 5,800 additional jobs in the county.

About four thousand people were employed by the university in 2003, according to the study.

“These people wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the university,” said associate economics professor Evan Anderson. “We wouldn’t be here, we’d be someplace else.”

Students pay for room and board, meals, and entertainment among many other things. This means DeKalb needs servers in restaurants, people in real estate, maintenance workers and apartment managers in addition to other jobs, Anderson said.

For every one million dollars the university loses, DeKalb County loses $1.45 million in economic activity, the study said.

“If my job was cut, I probably wouldn’t get lunch in DeKalb,” Anderson said. “[People] wouldn’t live here or shop at Wal-Mart, they’d be somewhere else.”

For students, working a job while working toward a degree could add experience that is helpful down the road.

“Back home in high school and in my community college I had a job, but it was far different than what I do at school,” said Steven Berg, junior business management major. “This ties in a lot with what I’m studying. It keeps me interacting with stuff that’s school related [and] business related. This job is more just to keep me busy while I’m going to school. It doesn’t pay the greatest; it’s minimum wage. However, the benefits from it is the academic experience too.”

Other opportunities such as groups within the university and DeKalb can also provide experience.

“Only a portion of [students’] lives will be in the work room. Other opportunities started here can help out later in life,” said Rena Cotsones, NIU Community Relations.

Student spending alone supports almost 3,700 jobs in DeKalb County.

“The students who don’t work for the campus still have good experience and good training for getting out in the workforce. They have time-management skills, they probably work with money, they probably work with customers. I think that’s just as good,” Berg said.

Visitors to NIU spend more than 31 million dollars per year, supporting 1,200 jobs in the county, according to the study.

“A university town has intellectual, cultural and athletic activities other communities don’t have,” Cotsones said. “It’s fun to see how the community really rallies around the Huskies. It gives them something to cheer about, and it gives them a sense of pride. It’s mutually supportive.”