Northeastern University Overview
Northeastern University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Boston, Massachusetts. The location of Northeastern is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.
What Is Northeastern University Known For?
- The 2% student loan default rate at Northeastern is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Northeastern.
- For the 2017-2018 academic year, 75% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, Northeastern bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $67,400 a year. That's about 65% more than their peers at other schools.
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Northeastern University Rankings
According to our 2022 analysis, Northeastern is ranked #77 out of 2,587 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. Northeastern also holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Northeastern has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#44 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#66 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Northeastern.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Northeastern has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#8 | Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools | College Factual |
#13 | Best Physical Sciences Schools | College Factual |
#16 | Best Communication & Journalism Schools | College Factual |
#27 | Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Schools | College Factual |
#30 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#61 | Best Business Schools | Business Degree Central |
Where Is Northeastern University?

Contact details for Northeastern are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115-5005 |
Phone: | 617-373-2000 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/northeastern |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/northeastern |
How Do I Get Into Northeastern?
You can apply to Northeastern online at: https://www.commonapp.org/
Admission Requirements for Northeastern
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Northeastern?
Approximately 47% of accepted students are men and 53% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 21%, and the acceptance rate for women is 20%.
Average Test Scores
About 54% of students accepted to Northeastern submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 690 and 750. Math scores were between 720 and 790.
Can I Afford Northeastern University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Northeastern, approximately 36% of students took out student loans averaging $8,697 a year. That adds up to $34,788 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Northeastern is 2.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Northeastern University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 7,749 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 15,131 full-time undergraduates at Northeastern, 49% are male and 51% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Northeastern University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 2,629 |
Black or African American | 621 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,375 |
White | 6,796 |
International Students | 2,426 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 1,284 |
Geographic Diversity
Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Northeastern University. At this time, 48 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 146 countries are represented at Northeastern. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and Taiwan.
Online Learning at Northeastern University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Northeastern has changed over the last few years.

Online Affordability Rankings of Northeastern
The following table shows how Northeastern is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Systems Engineering | #32 | #32 |
General Engineering | #53 | #53 |
Online Growth Rankings of Northeastern
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Northeastern University was 52.8%. This is the #645 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Northeastern regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Northeastern majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Criminal Justice & Corrections | 24% |
Engineering | 8% |
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | 24% |
Systems Engineering | 2% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Northeastern ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Northeastern.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Systems Engineering | #13 | |
General Engineering | #15 | |
Engineering | #55 | |
Criminal Justice & Corrections | #146 | |
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | #197 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Northeastern University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By (User:Piotrus) under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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