The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the university's largest college with 18 departments and seven centers that span the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities.
National Rankings
U.S. News and World Report
Best Grad Schools: NIU's Master of Public Administration program ranks 5th in the nation for Local Government Management and 12th in the specialty field of Public Finance and Budgeting and 53rd Best Public Affairs Program overall.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Top Universities Awarding ACS-certified Bachelor's Degrees: NIU's
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry ranks among the top universities for the number of ACS-certified bachelor's degrees awarded annually
Communication Institute for Online Scholarship
Top 10 Research Department: NIU's
Department of Communication is a distinguished program in
eight research categories with noted departmental strength in thirty additional research categories
National Ground Water Association
Top Hydrogeology Programs: NIU's
geosciences program ranks in the
top 100
Philosophical Gourmet Report
Top Terminal M.A. Programs: NIU's Philosophy program ranks in the
top 5 in terms of faculty quality
Academic Prestige
Professional Organizations
Consortium of Practicing and Applied Anthropology (COPAA): NIU's anthropology program is one of only 27 in the country that belongs to the COPAA, whose mission is to collectively advance the education and training of students, faculty, and practitioners in applied anthropology
Partnerships
Argonne National Laboratory: NIU's graduate programs in physics, computer science and chemistry participate in fellowship opportunities at Argonne National Laboratory

Fermilab: NIU's graduate programs in physics and computer science have a partnership with Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, working together on experiments and research.