In the meantime, long time residences and businesses have been displaced, and the affected buildings sit empty.

[16] Undergraduate and master's degrees are offered in four colleges: NEIU comprises the following instructional buildings: Northeastern Illinois competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for 20 years until joining the higher profile National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1988.

The Golden Eagles played as independents until finding a place in the short-lived East Coast Conference for the 1993–94 season.

Northeastern Illinois were then invited to join the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the Summit League, where it would play for the next four years.

The Northeastern Illinois Golden Eagles men's basketball team played from 1988 to 1998 and held home games in the Physical Education Complex.

Men's basketball player Andrell Hoard won the ESPN National Slam Dunk Competition, but lost the conference championship to Valparaiso University by one point in a nationally televised game where ingloriously the Golden Eagle's Mascot committed a technical foul by body slamming the other mascot at center count like a linebacker on national TV, making ESPN's daily highlights.

All intramural sports clubs are created and organized by students with the support of the campus recreation department and registered through IMLeagues.