Change your future while keeping more in your pocket.

Applying for scholarships is a great way to help pay for your NIU education. Scholarships do not need to be repaid and are awarded based on a variety of factors, including academic achievement and financial need.

You can now search and apply for most NIU scholarships online in MyScholarships. The deadline for many scholarships is January 31, 2025. 

International Education Week

Sponsored by the Division of International Affairs, International Education Week draws attention to NIU’s increasing strides towards internationalization at NIU. International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Their goal is to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences.

Win a $50 Amazon gift card for completing a survey!

Researchers in our psychology department need your help with a study about young adults’ relationships with their parents.

Complete our survey sharing your experiences and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.

The more students who participate, the more gift cards we will give out, so tell your friends. Anyone ages 18 to 29 can participate. Up to 20 gift cards worth $50 each are available.

Get ready for your career with Career Services.

The contest is open to all currently enrolled NIU students. Entries consisting of original artwork or photography can be submitted up until 5 p.m. on November 18, 2024. Students may submit multiple entries. We encourage submissions to review past years' winners and think creatively about how to avoid repetition or duplication.

A committee of faculty and staff will select the top three submissions based on quality, originality and holiday/Huskie spirit. The students with the top three selections will receive a one-time scholarship (first place $500, second place $300 and third place $100) and be featured in the president's electronic holiday card.

Join us for FAFSA Fridays!

The 2025-26 FAFSA will be available sometime during December 2024. Visit the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office for assistance completing your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid. All students eligible for financial aid who plan to enroll next year should complete a new FAFSA or Alternative Application each year, as soon as possible, to be considered for the maximum amount of financial aid. 

Bring your own laptop or use one of ours.  We're here to help!

Can't make it on Friday? We're available every weekday (excluding holidays and university closures).  We also offer virtual appointments.  Visit go.niu.edu/SFAS to schedule your appointment now!

Now is the time to start preparing to register for spring 2025 classes. Read the tips below and learn when to register and how to register for classes. 

1. If you have not met with your advisor, do so. They are here to help you.

2. Log in to MyNIU and Navigate Student.

Registration for spring 2025 classes opened Monday, Nov. 4. We would love to have you join us for UNIV 301: Braven Leadership Career Accelerator.

UNIV 301 will help you learn important career skills, create career readiness materials and get you plugged in with career professionals so you can get a great job and succeed in the workforce when you graduate. Plus, industry leaders will mentor you along the way.

“The experiences through Braven have been great. The United event at Willis Tower was incredible — just being in a professional environment and being able to talk to professionals in the field I want to go into. Learning networking skills was huge as well. I love this course.” - Haley Heckermann, management major and current UNIV 301/Braven student.

“One of the best things about Braven is the leadership coaches. We have a person who works at Microsoft and another person who works at a big company. Having regular one-on-one meetings and being able to bounce ideas off them is something I'm definitely taking advantage of.” - Kevin Dela Paz, computer science major and current UNIV 301/Braven student.

Upcoming Information Sessions:
Monday, December 2 (campus) 3 -3:30 p.m. CT, Peters Campus Life Building room 235

Registration for spring 2025 classes is right around the corner. Do you know that you can search for and select classes that use low- ($40 or less) or zero-cost course materials in MyNIU?

To find courses with affordable course materials in MyNIU, apply the Textbooks/Low Cost or Textbooks/Zero Costfilter to class searches. Or you can search by the keyword low cost.

Note: Course materials are defined as required books, textbooks, ebooks, streaming video, CDs or DVDs. Because students using the book charge program must purchase texts through the bookstore, the cost of materials is determined by the bookstore price. 

Want to know more? Check out our Affordable Materials Search and Filter for Students page.

NSF Virtual Grants Fall Conference Dec. 9-12, 2024

The National Science Foundation (NSF) will host a free virtual event, the 2024 Fall NSF Virtual Grants Conference. This event is for anyone new to NSF looking to learn key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF, and for those who are experienced and would like to catch up on the latest agency policies and information.

See our Sponsored Programs Administration Newsblog for additional information.

Policy Library Update - New Policy

A new policy is open to review and comment for a 30-day period. This provides our NIU community the opportunity to consider and respond to the new policy before it takes effect. The new policy is:

Policy on Managing University Policies by Dec. 13.

To submit a comment, go to our Policy Library website. Click on “Comment on New/Renew Policies.” You’ll be able to review the policies and provide your comments. If you have any questions, please contact the university policy librarian at policy-library@niu.edu.

Attention Parents! Consider taking part in a child-related attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and related discipline and punishment choices study.

If you are a parent (18 years or older) with at least one child under 18 years of age living at home and speak English, you are invited to take part in a parenting study.                                                              

Compensation: $40 cash.

If you agree to participate in this study, in Part 1, you will be asked to provide demographic information such as gender, age, marital status, education level, ethnicity, race, primary language and number of children. 

In Part 2, you will be asked to rate pictures of child faces on different traits, evaluate children’s behaviors and describe your likelihood of using discipline and punishment for the described children’s behaviors.

In Part 3, you will be asked to view child faces paired with descriptive words (rapidly presented on the computer screen).

In Part 4, you will be asked to reevaluate the child pictures and behaviors seen in the Part 2 of the study. Finally, you will be asked questions about your general, child-related beliefs and your personality characteristics.

Estimated participation time: 45 minutes.

To set up an appointment, please call: 815-246-2362. If a research staff member is not available, please leave a voicemail with your name and telephone number. Your call will be returned as soon as possible.