NIU is ranked in the "Research Universities - High Research Activity" category by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
NIU is a member of the country’s most prestigious public university association – the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC); representative of only about 5 percent of American colleges and universities.
NIU is among the nation’s best campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, according to last fall’s Advocate College Guide. The Advocate, the leading magazine for the LGBT community, calls its book “a comprehensive guide to colleges and universities with the best programs, services and student organizations for LGBT students.”
NIU’s Professional Sales Program within its Department of Marketing is ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation by the Chicago-based Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training. NIU’s Professional Sales Program also was the first collegiate sales program in the nation to be certified by SMT.
The American Chemical Society (ACS) has ranked the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry among the top 25 in the nation for the number of ACS-certified bachelor’s degrees awarded annually.
The department also is well known for producing highly sought-after chemistry and science teachers.
U.S. News ranks the NIU Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) program as fourth best nationally in the field of city management and eighth for public finance.
The NIU MPA program has been a major force behind efforts to professionalize municipal staffs in Illinois and advance the national good government movement. About one-third of Illinois city managers are graduates of the program.
NIU’s Department of Accountancy has been ranked in the nation’s top 10 by the Public Accounting Report for the last four years, while its graduate program has become a fixture in that ranking’s top 20.
Last year, U.S. News and World Report placed NIU Accountancy among the top 25 accounting programs in the country.
NIU’s marketing program is ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation by Chicago-based Professional Society for Sales and Marketing Training.
NIU’s Professional Selling program was the first collegiate sales program in the nation certified by SMT.
The NIU College of Business was ranked 65th in BusinessWeek’s 2007 ranking of best undergraduate business programs in the country. The college received especially high marks for the quality of its faculty, its job placement services and for its facilities. According to the survey, “With dedicated professors and extraordinary facilities, students say NIU provides a private school education on a state school budget.”
In 2006, Crain’s Chicago Business asked local MBA graduates to rate their schools. Nobody was more pleased than NIU alumni, who reported the highest overall satisfaction and gave the highest marks to the teachers in their program. With endorsements like that, Crain’s placed the NIU MBA program among the top seven in Chicago.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine consistently ranks NIU in the top 100 institutions nationwide graduating minority students.
NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology ranked in the top 40 among engineering master’s degree programs nationwide this year, according to U.S. News and World Report.
2007 graduates of the NIU School of Nursing posted a 99 percent passing rate on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination. Comparatively, the pass rate was 86 percent for all nursing programs in Illinois and 85 percent for all U.S. programs.
