DeKALB — In Summer 2021, there were a total of 5,325 students enrolled in courses at NIU, 149 fewer students than were enrolled in Summer 2020. Of these students, 2,566 were undergraduate students, 2,657 were graduate students and 102 were law students. 

This is a 3.3% decrease from Summer 2020 enrollment of 5,474 students, a 4.5% decrease from Summer 2019 enrollment of 5,575 students, and a 1.8% decrease from the Summer 2018 enrollment of 5,418 students. 

The number of undergraduate students enrolled in summer courses declined from 2,750 in Summer 2020 to 2,566 in Summer 2021, summer law students decreased from 111 to 102 and summer graduate students increased from 2,613 to 2,635.

“Fluctuation in enrollment depends on what courses are offered,” said Omar Ghrayeb, senior vice provost of Academic Affairs. 

Ghrayeb said that although NIU takes steps to ensure that the classes offered in summer are useful to as many students as possible, some summer semesters  fewer students may need the courses offered than others. 

“Colleges decide what courses to offer based on how many students are looking for courses—how many need it to graduate,” Ghrayeb said. “Each department looks at their majors and how many (students) in each year with each need for certain courses. This is how they decide how often it is offered.” 

Ghrayeb said whether the past three semesters courses being primarily online due to COVID-19  has had an effect on summer enrollment.

“With online—some students love online, some do not,” Ghrayeb said. “To make a causal relationship may not be accurate, because students favor online summer courses regardless.”