Social Sciences at Northern Illinois University

Every social sciences school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the social sciences program at Northern Illinois University stacks up to those at other schools.

NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and approximately 16,769 students attend the school each year. Of the 3,080 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University in 2021, 174 of them were social sciences majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Social Sciences section at the bottom of this page.

NIU Social Sciences Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences
• Master’s Degree in Social Sciences
• Doctorate Degree in Social Sciences

NIU Social Sciences Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the social sciences progam at NIU compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The social sciences major at NIU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Social Sciences. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Value Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	41
Best Value Social Sciences Schools	51
Most Popular Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	170
Most Focused Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools	190

In 2021, 24 students received their master’s degree in social sciences from NIU. This makes it the #171 most popular school for social sciences master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 10 students who received their doctoral degrees in social sciences, making the school the #107 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Social Sciences Student Demographics at NIU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the social sciences majors at Northern Illinois University.

NIU Social Sciences Bachelor’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 174 students earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences from NIU. About 47% of these graduates were women and the other 53% were men. The typical social sciences bachelor's degree program is made up of only 44% men. So male students are more repesented at NIU since its program graduates 9% more men than average.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 12% more racial-ethnic minorities in its social sciences bachelor's program than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's in social sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	7
Black or African American	32
Hispanic or Latino	45
White	78
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

NIU Social Sciences Master’s Program

Of the 24 social sciences students who graduated with a master's degree in 2020-2021 from NIU, about 46% were men and 54% were women. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 44% men graduate in social sciences each year. NIU does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 2% more men than average.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Northern Illinois University with a master's in social sciences.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	11
International Students	6
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

NIU also has a doctoral program available in social sciences. In 2021, 10 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Social Sciences

If you plan to be a social sciences major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Northern Illinois University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Sociology	80
Political Science & Government	75
Economics	27
Anthropology	14
Geography & Cartography	12

Related Majors

• History
• Family, Consumer & Human Sciences
• Communication & Journalism
• Psychology
• Education

Careers That Social Sciences Grads May Go Into

A degree in social sciences can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for IL, the home state for Northern Illinois University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
High School Teachers	43,720	$72,370
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	30,150	$61,670
Statisticians	1,820	$89,040
Survey Researchers	1,590	$57,560
Social Sciences Professors	1,250	$54,050

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
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Andy McMurray under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.