What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$2,264 to $47,696 a year, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $84,641 a year. Average need-based aid package: $46,555.Aid and debt
29.6%
receive need-based grants
$32,461
average debt at graduation
5,346
students got merit aid
about 24% of undergraduates
$12,725
average merit award
Getting In
Admit rates
5.2%
admitted overall
43%
admitted Early Decision
3.8%
admitted Regular Decision
Early Decision
Early Decision applicants were admitted at more than 11x the Regular Decision rate, and Early Decision is binding: you commit to attend if admitted.
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Some of that gap reflects who applies early (recruited athletes, legacy applicants and highly committed students concentrate in that pool), so it isn't proof that applying early would raise any one student's own odds.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1450–1520 · 24% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 33–35 · 7% of the class submitted
68.8% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- SAT/ACT scores
- Recommendations
- Important
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Considered
- Class rank
- Personal essay
- First-gen status
- Where you're from
- Demonstrated interest
- Not considered
- Legacy status
- In-state residency
What this means for you
Northeastern rates course rigor and your recommendations as Very Important, and your activities as Important.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. Choose recommenders who can be specific about you, not just confirm your transcript. And depth and leadership in a few activities matter more than a long list.
Northeastern rates demonstrated interest 'Considered' — it can tip a close decision, without being decisive.
Source: Common Data Set 2024–25, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Northeastern just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Northeastern essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
50.7% of Northeastern classes have fewer than 20 students.
50.7%
under 20 students
40.9%
20 to 49
8.4%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Northeastern CDS 2024–25, I-3.
16:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
61.7%
first-years from out of state
57%
live on campus
5%
of men in fraternities
9%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White40.6%
- Asian22.4%
- Hispanic10.4%
- Multiracial6.8%
- Black4.8%
- Unknown / other1.8%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Northeastern CDS 2024–25, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
Not reported
finish in 4 years
91%
finish in 6 years
96.9%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
90% finish in 6 years, against 91% of all students.
Pell Grant students finish at about the same rate as everyone else.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Boston.
Northeastern sits on Huntington Avenue between the Fenway and Roxbury, on the Green Line and a walk from the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall and Fenway Park.
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The campus is compact and genuinely inside the city rather than beside it, so students treat Boston's hospitals, labs and startups as an extension of it.
The City
Major city
Boston, MA
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Gregory Jarvis
NASA payload specialist on the Challenger STS-51-L crew; earned his master's in engineering at Northeastern
Nikesh Arora
CEO of Palo Alto Networks and former president of SoftBank; earned his MBA at Northeastern
Jane Curtin
Original cast member of Saturday Night Live; studied at Northeastern in the late 1960s
Sy Sternberg
Former chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance; earned his master's in electrical engineering at Northeastern
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Co-op
Northeastern's defining ritual is not a game day but the six-month co-op placement. Students alternate semesters of full-time paid work with semesters of classes, and "where are you on co-op?" is the ordinary way students introduce themselves.
Beanpot
The annual Boston college hockey tournament played at TD Garden each February between Northeastern, Boston University, Boston College and Harvard. Northeastern went 30 years without winning it, which made the streak itself part of the tradition.
Springfest
The end-of-year outdoor concert and carnival on Centennial Common, run by the student activities board and timed to the last week before finals.
Weekend escapes from Boston
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Boston
Cape Cod
1 hour 30 minutesThe standard Boston summer and early-autumn escape, reachable without a car via bus lines from South Station.
The White Mountains, New Hampshire
2 hours 30 minutesHiking and skiing within a day trip; the closest real mountains to campus.
New York City
4 hoursFrequent buses and Amtrak from Back Bay station, a 10-minute walk from campus.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Boston Logan International (BOS)
20 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Boston Red Sox MLB
- Boston Celtics NBA
- Boston Bruins NHL
- New England Patriots NFL
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
Northeastern's employer pipeline is the curriculum: co-op placements are arranged through the university, and Boston's hospital, biotech and finance clusters are the local market students rotate into.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Fidelity Investments
- Wayfair
- Amazon
- Raytheon
- Boston Children's Hospital
Downtown Boston, 15 minutes by subway
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Northeastern admits 5.2% of applicants, and it is a genuinely urban campus — 73 acres in Boston, with 57% of undergraduates living on campus and the rest spread across the city. Greek life is small (about 5% of men and 9% of women), so the social centre of gravity is the city and the co-op cycle rather than a campus row. That cycle is the trade-off families should price in: Northeastern's own filing shows essentially no one finishing in four years, because co-op semesters alternate with classes by design rather than being added on. 91.0% finish within six, and five years is the normal path here rather than a delay. The school meets 86.7% of demonstrated need on average across undergraduates, and graduates still carry $32,461 in average debt. Anyone set on a traditional four-year arc should weigh that before applying.