Northeastern University Data & Information Overview
This overview covers the essential stats on Northeastern University, including its rankings, majors, diversity, and more. All you need to do to learn more about a stat is click on its tile, and you’ll be taken to another page that analyzes that data more closely. Also, you can use the links below to scroll to any section of this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is Northeastern University Ranked?

2023 Rankings
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Northeastern University was awarded 987 badges in the 2023 rankings.
Overall Quality
Northeastern is ranked #81 out of 2,241 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual's 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Northeastern also holds the #11 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
See all of the rankings for Northeastern University.
Is It Hard to Get Into Northeastern?
Acceptance Rate
Northeastern University has a very low acceptance rate of 20%, making it one of the most selective out of all the colleges and universities in the nation. It's probably a good idea to apply to other schools in addition to Northeastern just in case you don't make the cut.
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.
Learn more about Northeastern University admissions.
Northeastern University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
With a student to faculty ratio of 14 to 1, Northeastern University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it's a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Northeastern University is 75%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Northeastern University
Freshmen Retention Rate
Northeastern University has a freshmen retention rate of 97%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Northeastern University.
Northeastern University Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 15,156 undergraduates at Northeastern with 15,131 being full-time and 25 being part-time.
How Much Does Northeastern University Cost?
The overall average net price of Northeastern is $29,714. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for Northeastern
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$10,240 | $7,376 | $18,389 | $25,452 | $43,276 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Northeastern, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 1.5%. 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.
Get more details about paying for Northeastern University.
How Much Money Do Northeastern Graduates Make?
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor's degree recipients from Northeastern make around $79,786 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future Northeastern graduates since it is 88% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.
See which majors at Northeastern University make the most money.
Location of Northeastern University
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.Get more details about the location of Northeastern University.

Contact details for Northeastern are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115-5005 |
Phone: | 617-373-2000 |
Website: | www.northeastern.edu/ |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/northeastern |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/northeastern |
Northeastern University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 93 majors graduated from Northeastern University. Of these students, 4,358 received undergraduate degrees and 3,775 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
General Business/Commerce | 880 | $65,358 |
Computer Information Systems | 415 | $95,288 |
Mechanical Engineering | 240 | $69,867 |
Economics | 167 | $56,668 |
Communication & Media Studies | 142 | $48,567 |
Computer Engineering | 140 | $88,529 |
Neurobiology & Neurosciences | 137 | $33,969 |
Health & Medical Administrative Services | 135 | $41,623 |
Child Development & Psychology | 130 | $35,413 |
Political Science & Government | 126 | $45,238 |
Online Learning at Northeastern
Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
In 2019-2020, 11,053 students took at least one online class at Northeastern University. This is an increase from the 2,324 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2019-2020 | 11,053 | 663 |
2018-2019 | 2,324 | 209 |
2017-2018 | 2,011 | 173 |
2016-2017 | 1,692 | 249 |
2015-2016 | 1,636 | 240 |
Learn more about online learning at Northeastern University.
Find Out More About Northeastern University
Related Schools
If you’re considering Northeastern University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
- Bucknell University
- Lafayette College
- Lehigh University
- University of Notre Dame
- Villanova University
Curious on how these schools stack up against Northeastern? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*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.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By (User:Piotrus) under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.