NIU blames FAFSA delays for decreased freshman enrollment

DeKALB – Freshman fall enrollment declined for the second year in a row at Northern Illinois University, although officials this week blamed delays in student federal aid processes and instead touted increased transfer numbers.

NIU’s new freshman class came in at 1,991, compared with 2,202 in 2023 and 2,440 in 2022, according to data provided by NIU 10 days into the fall semester. Overall enrollment stayed fairly steady this year at 11,349 compared with 11,358 in 2023 and 11,429 in 2022, data shows.

Highlights include more transfer students this year than in 2023, according to the latest numbers. Ten days into the fall semester, 1,462 students had transferred to be Huskies, a steady growth compared with 1,325 in 2023 and 1,252 in 2022.

“I’m thrilled that we continue to experience promising enrollment trends in key areas, including in the diversity and academic quality of our students; substantial increases in new transfer and new graduate and law students; and successful reenrollment of continuing students,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said in a news release. “Our focus on removing barriers to a high-quality education continues to attract talented students from all backgrounds who clearly see NIU as a place where they will succeed.”

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A Northern Illinois University students bikes past the NIU sculpture Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, on campus at NIU in DeKalb. (Mark Busch)

FAFSA delays felt in DeKalb, NIU officials say

NIU officials said Thursday that they believe freshman enrollment would have been higher if not for continued delays in free applications for federal student aid, commonly referred to as FAFSA.

While not a loan itself, FAFSA is a common process used to determine a student’s eligibility for federal financial aid. Once a student’s FAFSA paperwork is complete, they can traditionally use that to then apply for student loans, grants or student employment at various institutions. Often, a student will work an on-campus job during the school year as part of a financial aid package provided by a school.

A delayed FAFSA means students may not have pursued financial aid packages or were not aware of what they may qualify for, thus affecting how they made their decisions on where to attend.

The Associated Press reported in August that FAFSA application delays had significantly stunted college enrollment plans. Calling it a redesign gone bad, The AP also reported in March that hundreds of thousands of financial aid applications needed to be fixed after a calculation error by the U.S. Education Department.

The number of high school seniors who have completed their FAFSA was down 9% compared with this time last year, according to data from the National College Attainment Network reported by The AP on Aug. 29. That number was as high as 40% in the spring, when students usually must submit their forms to give schools enough time to assemble an aid package.

Although NIU has struggled with declining overall enrollment for decades, recent initiatives by the university, which also has a Rockford campus and students who take online courses, have tried to course correct. That includes the Aim High Huskies Pledge, expanded in February to make more qualifying Illinois high school seniors eligible to attend NIU for the first year without paying tuition.

NIU’s freshman enrollment was trending upward for six consecutive years as recent as 2022.

The DeKalb university’s programs are meant to address the rising cost of higher education and correlating dwindled accessibility and enrollment numbers, trends that institutions across the country have struggled with.

Sol Jensen, NIU vice president for enrollment manage, marketing and communications, said Thursday that NIU disburses a significant amount of financial aid to students.

“NIU has certainly increased our commitment to students,” Jensen said. “We have drastically changed and increased the amount of scholarships that we’re giving out to students [and] institutional aid in general that’s coming from NIU.”

He said even 10 days into the semester, students still are completing financial aid applications.

“So we’ll keep working with them to do that, but we’re still sitting about 9% fewer FAFSA completions than we were last year at this time,” Jensen said. “Probably more importantly, we’re down about 11% on incoming freshman [FAFSA applications].”

Navigating the student loan application process can be challenging in itself. For students who are the first in their family to attend college, often referred to as first-generation students, that process can be even more daunting, Jensen said. Students from other historically underserved communities including from low-income backgrounds also might struggle to get through the application process.

One in every two freshmen at NIU is a first-generation college student, according to the university. Jensen said more than half of all NIU students are first-generation college students, and they may not always have the support to navigate the aid application process like some of their peers.

Advocates worry FAFSA delays – on top of a Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in higher education – will affect where and whether many go to college.

Freeman said NIU’s financial staff has helped as best as it can in managing application delays.

“I can’t talk about focused efforts related to enrollment without recognizing the commitment and heroism of our financial aid team,” Freeman said in the release. “The team worked day and night to process data that arrived months behind schedule, find workarounds to recurring technical issues, and minimize harm to the university and aspiring Huskies and their families.”

Overall enrollment, demographic breakdown

Still, overall enrollment remains steady at NIU so far this year, officials said. Some programs also saw an uptick in interested students, including NIU’s College of Law and those seeking a post-undergraduate degree, data shows.

The total number of NIU students pursuing master’s degrees rose by almost 3%, and new doctoral students rose by 27% compared with this time in 2023. NIU’s overall law school enrollment grew by almost 8%, totaling 338 students, the highest amount in a decade, data shows.

“Students continue to be attracted to our program given the high-quality legal education and affordability,” College of Law Dean Cassandra Hill said in a statement to Shaw Local. “The success of our graduates in practice, whether in government or private practice or as a judge, is becoming more widely and well known as we regularly share our accomplishments and uniqueness. Students are drawn to what we have to offer – a small and supportive community where they are known by their names.”

NIU’s law school also has specialty-focused clinics to offer students hands-on experience in legal fields, including business, health advocacy, civil justice, criminal defense and the Prisoners’ Rights Project, Hill said.

Jensen said other top programs at NIU continue to perform well. NIU’s most popular degree is psychology, followed by health sciences including nursing, computer science, business administration and mechanical engineering.

Of the freshman class, 66% identify as students of color. And of the new transfers, 47% identify the same way, according to NIU, which also is on its way to becoming a fully designated Hispanic-serving institution, officials said. The U.S. Department of Education offers specific grants to institutions that qualify as HSI, meaning they must have an undergraduate population made up of at least 25% students who identify as Hispanic, according to the department.

NIU students who identify as what NIU called Latinx make up more than one-fourth of the total undergraduate population for the second consecutive year in 2024, data shows.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.