RE: Could this be death of one or more of directional schools
Some ramblings:
16,609 kids enrolled at NIU in 2019. We've always had a big percentage of commuter students too, that's not the number that live on campus.
The economy takes a historic hit. NIU caters to lower/middle class kids, that part of the economy is hit hard, so I'm thinking we should expect a much lower enrollment #s (at NIU and all schools). Tell me if you think otherwise, just discussing here.
So, what does NIU look like at, say, 15000 kids, with more commuter students and now more online only kids? And, everyone still thinking 'social distancing'. For the coming football season, just forget about in person attendance. Open only small sections of the stands, and, yes, cut way down on the hot dogs sold :). But, no lines at the endzone pub!!!! Just be glad if we can actually play a full season with a full or near full roster! If I'm watching a game in September, I'll be thrilled.
Closing a school or 2 ? These are the times that trigger those types of changes.
Why not just have a North, Central and South school in Illinois? North? in Chicago. Central? Champaign. South, one of the SIU campuses. Those schools would thrive. Yes, no NIU, no ISU, no WIU/EIU. Forget about enrollment based on SAT/ACT test scores and grades, many schools do this now. Kids sink or swim, maybe they get a 2nd chance, but if you can't cut it at one of these 3 big schools, you attend community college or a private school. We limit the options the state provides, and thus cut costs. We completely restructure, no more Illinois Board of Regents, one school administrative agency.
Am I way off? God I hope so, just throwing it out there to see if anyone responds. I've got cabin fever.
(This post was last modified: 03-29-2020 11:58 PM by NIU84.)
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