Supporting Documents

Submit the following documents to complete your application.

All supporting documents necessary to process your application must be sent to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by the application deadlines.

Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Northern Illinois University
1425 West Lincoln Hwy.
DeKalb, IL 60115


Documents to Be Submitted

The supporting documents required to complete your application vary depending upon the type of applicant. Please review the applicant types below.

First-year Applicants
  • No application fee or a qualified application fee waiver form.
  • Official high school transcript (this can be requested from your registrar's office or from your high school counselor).
    • Official documents are those sent from the issuing institution directly to NIU via postal mail or recognized electronic transcript provider (i.e. Parchment, National Student Clearinghouse, etc.).
    • If you anticipate a delay with the submission of your official high school transcript, we will accept transcripts as a PDF via email directly from your counselor's email address. Your counselor should send transcripts to admissions@niu.edu.
  • Applicants who are not high school graduates must have attained high school equivalency through General Educational Development (GED) tests. Official GED scores must be submitted.
  • Official college transcript(s) (if applicable).

Please note: You don't need to submit your ACT or SAT score for general admission, merit scholarship consideration or acceptance to the University Honors program. Read more about test-free admission requirements.

Transfer Applicants
  • No application fee or a qualified application fee waiver form.
Official transcript(s) from all colleges attended.
  • New transfer students must provide official transcript(s) from each institution attended which were printed within a year of their date of application and which are inclusive of all completed work at that institution.
  • Previous applicants who applied, but did not enroll and submitted official transcript(s), must provide official transcript(s) from each institution attended which were printed within a year of their most recent date of application. Those transcripts must be inclusive of all completed work at each institution. If transcripts supplied to NIU in support of a previous application, are less than a year old and are inclusive of all work completed at the time of application, they may be used for admission purposes. Transcripts more than one year old, at the time of a student’s most recent application, cannot be used for admission purposes.
  • Official high school transcript (if applicable).

Please note the following:

  • If you're applying for admission in 2022 and have earned 24 or more transferable credit hours, your high school transcript and ACT/SAT score is not required.
  • You don't need to submit your ACT or SAT score. Read more about test-free admission requirements.
Immigrant Applicants

Other Documents

If you are an applicant who previously applied to NIU under another name, or need to change/update your legal name in our systems after applying you may be asked to supply a copy of your Social Security Card to verify your current legal name. Securely upload your Social Security Card.


Criminal Disclosure Information

As part of our commitment to campus safety, NIU requires students to disclose information about their criminal background and/or any misconduct that resulted in disciplinary separation from schools/universities they previously attended. Learn more about this requirement.


Document Retention

Please note that all documents submitted to Northern Illinois University for admission purposes become the property of the university. Documents will not be released to students nor will they be forwarded to other educational institutions or agencies.

Undergraduate Application Deadlines

Term Deadline
Summer May 15
Fall August 1
Spring December 1

Please note that the actual size of the new class will be determined by the level of university resources available to maintain the quality of academic programs. The schedule on which applications will be reviewed provides for competitive admissions on a space-available basis. Thus, space limitations and/or budget constraints may necessitate earlier deadlines. Students whose high school GPA falls within the published guidelines for holistic review are asked to submit and complete their applications according to the Freshmen Petition Review deadlines.

Other Important Info

Contact Us

Office of Admissions
Williston Hall
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-0446
admissions@niu.edu
transfercenter@niu.edu
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