NEIU’s Board of Trustees (BoT) voted to extend the NEIU For You scholarship for an additional two years and widen the group of students eligible to receive the scholarship to include transfer students and veterans on September 21, 2023.

According to the President’s Report to the Board of Trustees, the proposal to extend and expand the scholarship is based on a 9.5% increase in enrollment of new first-time freshmen for Fall 2022 and Fall 2023, and a less significant impact on the enrollment of new transfer students where NEIU For You is more limited.

Manish Kumar, Vice President of Finance and Administration, provided insight into how NEIU For You has increased enrollment numbers, “From 2018 to 2023, the new undergraduate enrollment [number] decreased over 13,000 credit hours,” he said. “In 2023, we saw a slight increase in new undergraduate credit hours by 3.5%, and [the] new trend projection shows a modest increase in new undergraduate credit hours in 2024 and 2025.”

NEIU For You was founded in Spring 2021 amid a steep decline in admitted freshmen and overall projected enrollment. Initially, the scholarship covered the cost of one year of tuition for first-time, full-time incoming freshmen. In November 2021, NEIU For You expanded to cover the cost of the first four years of a bachelor’s degree.

Then-NEIU President Gloria J. Gibson commented on the expansion of NEIU For You: “As a university dedicated to serving those who are commonly underserved, we have a responsibility to ensure every student who wants a college degree has the opportunity to earn one.”

The Independent reached out to Kumar for further comment on the extension and expansion of NEIU For You but did not get a response.