NIU president aims for 30,000 enrollment

DeKALB — Northern Illinois University officials hope to increase enrollment by 25 percent in less than nine years.

In his annual State of the University speech, NIU President John Peters on Thursday announced that one of the goals for the university is to reach an enrollment of 30,000 students by the year 2020. Last year, there were 23,850 students at NIU, according to the official 10-day count the school is required to take in September. This year’s count hasn’t occurred yet.

“This is an aggressive goal,” he said, “but one that is necessary and achievable.”

Increasing enrollment was one of several initiatives outlined in Peters’ 40-minute speech at NIU’s Altgeld Hall.

By 2020, university officials hope to more than double the number of incoming freshmen who are in the top 10 percent of their class, which would be an increase from 9 percent to 20 percent. Peters also said goals are set to increase the number of freshmen in the top quarter of their class from 31 percent to 40 percent.

Peters also announced plans to increase the number of merit-based scholarships given to students.

This year, the number of merit-based scholarship recipients increased by 35 percent compared to the previous year.

With the help of increased private support, Peters wants to double the amount of scholarship offerings by 2020 to a total of $10 million.

“You can applaud that,” he told the audience.

Since Peters announced the Vision 2020 plan — a 10-year initiative launched in 2010 that set the goal of making NIU the most student-centered public university in the Midwest — some of the goals already have been set in motion.

Peters said in the past year, the biggest strides have been made in student recruitment and retention efforts, as well as improved student housing.

“We couldn’t wait on those,” he said. “You can’t reach 30,000 (students) if you don’t have good housing.”

Finding resources to accomplish Vision 2020 goals is going to be the biggest challenge, Peters said.

The university is still waiting for a $43 million payment from the state, has accumulated $400 million in deferred maintenance because of cost-cutting measures and in Fiscal Year 2011 alone, unfunded mandates totaled $20 million.

State Sen. Christine Johnson, a Shabbona Republican, attended the speech and said she didn’t know if the university would see any additional funding from the state, but she thinks legislators can take a few steps to help relieve some of the institution’s financial burdens.

“With the $20 million in unfunded mandates, I think legislators ... can perhaps roll back some of those mandates and lighten those for universities,” she said.

Despite the financial challenges ahead, NIU officials are optimistic Vision 2020 is pushing the university in the right direction.

John Butler, vice chairman of the NIU Board of Trustees, said the university’s faculty and staff members are among the plan’s top priorities, and one of the challenges will be making sure they are sufficiently rewarded and appreciated for their work. He also said shifting NIU’s focus to improving off-campus programs and increasing the number of nontraditional student enrollment will be a challenge.

“The goal of going from 3,000 (nontraditional students) to 9,000 — that’s going to be a real challenge,” Butler said. “But I think we’re ready for it.”

Other goals include increasing support for NIU research by 30 percent; rewarding faculty for their work in research and participation in engaged learning activities such as the Research Rookies program; and becoming less reliant on unpredictable state funding. Adding 42 online degree programs is another initiative that’s in the works.

Peters also wants to increase the number of students graduating with honors by 50 percent, increase the number of students who choose to study abroad by 25 percent and increase the number of engaged learning activities. Another goal is to reduce the number of students who leave the university without a degree by 50 percent by 2020.

Marc Strauss, chairman of the NIU Board of Trustees, said he was impressed by the goals implemented in the past year.

“There’s been substantial progress. The amount of ground that had to be covered was staggering,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the results. ... The linchpin of this is growth.”