Northeastern University Acceptance Rate
Everything you need to know about Northeastern University Admissions.
Get Into Northeastern University
Northeastern University is a private higher university located in Boston, with additional campuses in Arlington, Charlotte, London, Miami, Oakland, Portland, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver. It is currently ranked #46 in the U.S. News and World Report ranking of National Universities (tied with Lehigh, Purdue and University of Georgia, among others). It’s an impressive rise for a school that, two decades ago, ranked #162 and is a direct result of the university’s decision to institute smaller class sizes. Notably, U.S. News and World Report ranked Northeastern #5 for Most Innovative Schools, #14 for Service Learning, #18 for Senior Capstone, and #9 for Best Undergraduate International Business Program. (More on that below.)
Northeastern was founded in 1898 and currently has 18,656 undergraduate students and 20,286 graduate and professional students enrolled. Undergraduate students at Northeastern choose from over 220 majors and combined major programs, offered across Northeastern’s schools: the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the College of Science, the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, and the College of Arts, Media and Design.
What Sets Northeastern Apart?
Northeastern’s emphasis on Experiential Learning manifests in opportunities to integrate classroom learning with professional experience. A particularly striking feature is the Co-op, which places students in two to three professional experiences with over 3,000 employers around the world over the course of the student’s college career. The university’s PlusOne program further prioritizes post-college professional readiness by allowing students to jump start their graduate degree in Northeastern’s accelerated bachelor/graduate degree program. There are also ample opportunities for students to build plans of study that are tailored to their interests: undergraduates have the option to declare as a combined major, pursue a unique culminating capstone project as relates to their field(s) of study, perform cutting edge research in their chosen field(s) (often alongside faculty in over thirty research centers and institutes), embark on myriad service-learning experiences, and study abroad in a wide range of countries.
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Unique Opportunities
The University Honors Program — which applicants are automatically considered for as part of the application process — further facilitates such opportunities by providing undergraduate students with additional resources and support. Honors students also live together during their first year on campus, participating in group activities on and off campus, and are connected with a robust network of Honors alumni, who provide the students with additional career guidance and mentorship. Northeastern touts many exciting programs: for example, student entrepreneurs have ample opportunity to build and flex their entrepreneurial skills in Northeastern’s IDEA program, which provides resources including funding and mentorship to entrepreneurs across all disciplines. Add on to these myriad opportunities the robust history and culture of the city of Boston itself and it’s no surprise Northeastern has attracted 105,283 first-time, full-time, first-year students this application cycle — a 49.5% increase over the past four years alone!
Applying to Northeastern University
When applying to Northeastern, students apply to one of the university’s schools — the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the College of Science, the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, the D’Amore- McKim School of Business, and the College of Arts, Media and Design. Students who are undecided may elect to enroll in Northeastern’s Explore Program, which connects them with advisors, faculty, alumni, and peers through events and seminars and helps prepare them to declare a major.
Northeastern offers four application options for first-time, first-year students: two rounds of binding Early Decision, non-binding Early Action, and Regular Decision.
Early Decision I: Northeastern offers two Early Decision options. Students who apply to Early Decision I must submit their applications by November 1. Applicants are then notified by December 15 and, if admitted to their first-choice program, are bound to that program. If the applicant is not admitted to their first-choice program, a non-binding decision will be issued.
Early Decision II: The second Early Decision option is Early Decision II, which enables students who decide that Northeastern is their top choice later in the application process to nevertheless apply under the more forgiving admit rates of the Early Decision program. Students who apply via Early Decision II must submit their applications by January 1. Applicants are notified by March 1 and, if admitted to their first choice program, are bound to the program.
Early Action: Northeastern’s non-binding Early Action program has a deadline of November 1, with applicants being notified of their application status by February 1.
Regular Decision: Northeastern’s Regular Decision deadline provides students with the standard, non-binding application option. The Regular Decision deadline is January 1, with decisions being released by April 1.
Northeastern prioritizes applicants who show that they prioritize the school: while only 2,640 of the 56,000 students who applied Early Action to the Northeastern Class of 2028 were accepted (a 4.7% admit rate), 1,420 of the 3,672 students who applied to the Class of 2028 ED — an impressive 39% — were accepted. Early Decision applications have also risen dramatically since 2015 with about a 660% increase!
Northeastern College Admissions Wrap Up
Class of 2029
Northeastern received a record 105,283 applications for fall 2025 and accepted 5,113 for a rate of 5.2%. Northeastern received 56,000 EA applications to the Class of 2028 and accepted 2,640 students, for a rate of 5 percent. In the Early Decision II round they accepted, 600 students, from the pool of 6,000, for a rate of 20 percent.
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