Some Spring 2024 classes may be canceled for low enrollment, even if they are required for a major, says a post by English professor and general major advisor Dr. Timothy Scherman on “The Turtle Shell”,  the NEIU English Department’s communication venue on D2L:

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Greetings all–

Believe it or not, the administration is now scanning courses to see which are not well enough enrolled to run next term. It may be unrealistic on their part to expect NEIU working students to commit this early to spring term, but they are doing it, so to keep the  courses you want to take or need to take from being canceled before the term begins, please consider registering for your spring classes ASAP!!!

Some may be nervous about signing up for courses before they have the money to pay. We get that. The one good thing about NEIU policy is that you are guaranteed a full, 100% refund if for whatever reason you need to drop any course, through at least the first week of spring term–about February 1.

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For further follow-up, Christopher Childers, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, said in a statement to the Independent, “Northeastern course offerings each semester are determined by a range of factors…and we encourage students with concerns about course availability to reach out to their academic advisors and program leadership for accurate and up-to-date information.”

Dr. Scherman noted to the Independent, “As far as I know, there are no other grounds for cutting classes than low enrollment. To keep to our university budget, as a very general rule, the admin wants to keep student/faculty ratios in classes robust.” Dr. Scherman noted that some classes with lower enrollment may still run depending on the number of students in other classes. However, this means classes that are required for a major also have the potential to be canceled, which may delay students’ graduation.

“The problem we have as a university is that we serve a student body who doesn’t have a lot of cash lying around, and does not always understand that they do not need to pay for classes completely upfront.” Dr. Scherman added, “I think many students are unaware that they can get a 100% refund for anything they have paid for a class a full week into a term if for some reason they realize they need to drop.”

Spring 2024 registration is already open, and will close on Jan. 20. However, as emphasized by “The Turtle Shell’s post, students will benefit from registering sooner rather than later.