Online Learning Trends and Highlights - Fall 2026
The following overview of online learning trends at NIU offers a glimpse into the current state of online learning and highlights a few of the current online learning trends as of Fall 2026.
Online Program Enrollment
Online program enrollment remains strong, with 1,392 students enrolled in NIU online programs in Fall 2026, up nearly 4% from the enrollment of 1,342 in Fall 2025. This is the second consecutive year of record online program enrollment. Online program enrollment trends over the past eight years are provided below, along with online program enrollment by college and department in the Fall 2026 semester.
Enrollment by College
| College | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 467 | 33.55% |
| Health and Human Sciences | 347 | 24.93% |
| Business | 263 | 18.89% |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences | 248 | 17.82% |
| Engineering and Engineering Technology | 60 | 4.31% |
| Visual and Performing Arts | 7 | 0.50% |
Enrollment by Department (Top 10)
| School / Department | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Learning Innovation, Leadership and Technology | 299 | 21.48% |
| Nursing | 255 | 18.32% |
| Business | 101 | 7.26% |
| Curriculum and Instruction | 88 | 6.32% |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences | 85 | 6.11% |
| Public and Global Affairs | 78 | 5.60% |
| Accountancy and Finance | 70 | 5.02% |
| Preventive and Applied Health | 60 | 4.31% |
| Operations Management and Information Systems | 56 | 4.02% |
| Political Science | 52 | 3.74% |
Student Preferences for Online Courses
Online Course Enrollment
Considering student preferences for taking online courses, it’s clear that student demand for online courses remains strong. Looking at student enrollment in online courses, in Fall 2026, 64% of NIU undergraduate students (7,669) and 21% of NIU graduate students (703) took at least one online course.
6 in 10 undergraduate students and 1 in 5 graduate students took at least one online course in Fall 2026
Percentage of NIU Students Taking At Least One Online Course
Program Format Preferences
NIU students still predominantly prefer in-person and hybrid programs to fully-online programs. In Fall 2026, 7% of undergraduate students (793) and 37% of graduate students (1,265) graduate students took only online courses. This is slightly up from 6% of undergraduate students (756) and 35% of graduate students (1,257) in Fall 2025.
Percentage of NIU Students Taking All Online Courses
Online Student Credit Hours
Similarly when looking at student credit hours (SCH) by mode of instruction, we continue to see a steady trend for students completing credit hours through online courses. In Fall 2026, 28.70% of SCH were from online courses and 3.61% were from hybrid courses.
Percentage of Student Credit Hours (SCH) by Term and Instruction Mode
Faculty Teaching Online Courses
As expected when looking at faculty teaching online courses, we continue to see a significant number of NIU faculty who are teaching online and hybrid courses. In Fall 2026 94 faculty taught hybrid courses and 426 faculty taught online courses.
Of all 1,239 faculty (including all categories of faculty and teaching staff) who taught during Fall 2026, 34.3% (426) taught at least one online course and 7.6% (94) taught at least one hybrid course.
1 in 3 faculty taught at least one online course and 1 in 13 faculty taught at least one hybrid course in Fall 2026
Faculty of Record by Course Mode of Instruction
Professional Development and Support for Online Teaching
Faculty who teach online courses continue to utilize available online teaching support at NIU. In reviewing faculty participation in professional development and support for online teaching, of the 426 faculty who are teaching at least one online course and the 94 faculty teaching at least one hybrid course during Fall 2026, 63.2% have received some type of individualized support for their online teaching, 44.0% have attended faculty online teaching workshop(s), and 26.8% have completed the Online Course Design Academy during the past five years.
Percentage of Faculty Teaching Online in Fall 2026 Who Received Individualized Support During the Past 5 Years
Percentage of Faculty Teaching Online in Fall 2026 Who Attended Online Teaching Workshop(s) During the Past 5 Years
Percentage of Faculty Teaching Online in Spring 2025 Who Completed Online Course Design Academy During the Past 5 Years
