Northern Illinois University Overview
Northern Illinois University is a public institution located in Dekalb, Illinois. Dekalb is a good match for students who enjoy the safety and convenience of the suburbs.
What Is Northern Illinois University Known For?
- The highest award offered at NIU is the doctor's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 75% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, NIU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $45,500 a year. That's about 12% more than their peers at other schools.
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Northern Illinois University Rankings
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
NIU has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#160 | Most Popular Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#168 | Most Popular Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at NIU.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards NIU has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#6 | Best Value Colleges for Physical Sciences | College Factual |
#11 | Best Value Colleges for Health Professions | College Factual |
#14 | Best Value Colleges for History | College Factual |
#23 | Best Value Colleges for Psychology | College Factual |
#41 | Best Health Professions Colleges for Veterans | College Factual |
#98 | Best Colleges for Health Professions | College Factual |
Where Is Northern Illinois University?

Contact details for NIU are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1425 W. Lincoln Hwy., Dekalb, IL 60115-2828 |
Phone: | 800-892-3050 |
Website: | www.niu.edu |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/NorthernIllUniv |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/NIUlive |
How Do I Get Into NIU?
You can apply to NIU online at: www.niu.edu/apply/index.shtml
Admission Requirements for NIU
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | required |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | neither required nor recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into NIU?
Approximately 43% of accepted students are men and 57% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 52%, and the acceptance rate for women is 55%.
Average Test Scores
About 0% of students accepted to NIU submitted their SAT scores.NIU received ACT scores from 97% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 18 and 24. Math scores were between 18 and 25. Composite scores were between 19 and 24.
Can I Afford Northern Illinois University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At NIU, approximately 72% of students took out student loans averaging $7,177 a year. That adds up to $28,708 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at NIU is 7.8%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.
Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 4,478 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 10,567 full-time undergraduates at NIU, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Northern Illinois University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 607 |
Black or African American | 1,984 |
Hispanic or Latino | 2,041 |
White | 5,274 |
International Students | 221 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 440 |
Geographic Diversity
Illinois students aren't the only ones who study at Northern Illinois University. At this time, 20 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 78 countries are represented at NIU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and Saudi Arabia.
Online Learning at Northern Illinois University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at NIU has changed over the last few years.

Online Growth Rankings of NIU
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Northern Illinois University was 9.1%. This is the #1,397 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at NIU regardless of major.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Andy McMurray under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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