On-campus summer enrollment took a nosedive by 396 students from last summer, yet off-campus enrollment is up by 130.

Off-campus NIU buildings are located in Hoffman Estates, Naperville and Rockford. Records and Administration workers are somewhat surprised by the drop in on-campus students enrolling in summer classes, but they are not too concerned because it has not become a yearly pattern.

“We never like being down but we are not that worried about it unless it starts to become a trend. If that happens, we will look into it much more carefully and evaluate some of the classes we are offering and so on,” director of administration Bob Burke said.

Burke also said even though on-campus enrollment is down, the school has gained a few students from other NIU locations and are up 130 from all off-campus students.

“We have gained some from the off-campus locations and even though we are down on-campus, one summer does not make a trend. We are in hopes that with middle summer classes starting that will help increase enrollment,” Burke said.

Post-graduate accounting major Troy Marsh is using the summer to take a class and is still able to work two jobs.

“I work two jobs on campus, so I am around during the summer. I might as well take a class so I can finish earlier,” Marsh said. “Summer classes are more challenging because they move twice as fast, so with working and school, knowing how to manage my time is the biggest challenge.”

However, not all students take advantage of the summer classes. Many NIU students do not stay in DeKalb over the summer but instead go home to work.

“Summer classes usually have a lot to do with the job market. If the job market is good, then some students will work and not have time for summer classes,” said Donald Larson, executive director of registration and records. “But if the job market is bad, some students take classes since they are not working. A lot of students that attend NIU are not from around here so they have to go home to work and may not want to commute back and forth while balancing a full-time job.”

Students are not the only ones who use summer classes as a way to catch up or stay ahead.

Professors also take advantage of summer downtime to take a couple classes to stay caught up in their course work.

“Professors are always needing more course work and more training so we have a big business with professors over the summer,” Larson said.