Chartered in 1895, Northern Illinois University is one of the nation’s premier regional public universities, a comprehensive teaching and research institution with over 25,000 students. NIU is ranked in the top 4 percent of all American universities by the Carnegie Foundation, having received the agency’s highest possible designation among Doctoral/Research Universities-Extensive. The university is also a member of the country’s most prestigious public university association, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest of NIU’s seven colleges, with 17 departments, 7 centers, 385 faculty positions, and over 6500 undergraduates majoring in CLAS subjects, as well as over 1200 graduate students. The College is committed to promoting excellence in undergraduate liberal education and in graduate programs built around cutting-edge research, and to fostering the connections between teaching and research, to their mutual benefit.