Northeastern University

Boston, MA · Private nonprofit · 17,326 undergrads (large, city) · website ↗

Test-optional
$75 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$2,264
$30,000 – $48,000	$2,436
$48,000 – $75,000	$5,301
$75,000 – $110,000	$16,241
Over $110,000	$47,696
All incomes (average)	$30,915

Sticker tuition and fees: $66,162 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Northeastern University's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$22,048
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$22,048
Books and supplies	$1,000
Other expenses, on campus	$1,800
Other expenses, off campus	$1,800

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (2,519 of them) in 2022–23; 80% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	73%	$46,558
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	16%	$6,546
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	72%	$44,353
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	38%	$4,399

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 5%
Average SAT: 1497
Median ACT: 34
Students with Pell grants: 12%
Graduation rate (6yr): 91%
Freshman retention: 97%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $92,538
Median debt at graduation: $24,250
International undergrads: 2,421 (15.2%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $75
Students per faculty member: 16 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 70%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 710–760
SAT Math: 730–780
ACT composite: 33–35

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Considered if submitted
Recommendations	Required
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Considered if submitted
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Required
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 96,631
Admitted: 5,459
Enrolled: 2,744

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Business21%

Computer Science16%

Engineering15%

Biology & Life Sciences11%

Health & Nursing11%

Social Sciences9%

Communications & Media3%

Psychology3%

Visual & Performing Arts3%

Environmental Studies2%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (42)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Business/Commerce, General	986	$83,604	$113,620national $68,407	$18,875
Computer and Information Sciences, General	633	$124,222	$163,708national $92,374	$19,500
Mechanical Engineering	244	$87,504	$103,384national $92,135	$22,500
Health and Medical Administrative Services	199	$46,316	$80,233national $58,716	$21,500
Economics	197	$78,831	$101,423national $82,686	$20,849
Research and Experimental Psychology	164	$49,000	$66,130national $55,695	$20,250
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	160	$47,825	$74,617national $62,451	$22,500
Political Science and Government	140	$55,843	$73,539national $63,293	$20,875
Engineering, Other	134	$84,093	$112,019national $93,989	$21,500
Biology, General	130	$43,476	$78,327national $57,214	$19,500
Computer Engineering	125	$110,872	$135,416national $109,015	$21,617
Communication and Media Studies	114	$55,226	$80,191national $56,359	$23,245
Computer Software and Media Applications	108	$99,899	—national $58,894	$19,500
Mathematics	99	$94,730	$125,084national $69,562	$20,715
International Business	99	$76,290	$125,162national $73,201	$18,258
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	96	$84,377	$91,003national $88,910	$20,000
Chemical Engineering	93	$85,859	$107,767national $98,158	$24,487
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	91	$60,938	$90,612national $65,466	$17,817
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	88	$96,270	$118,150national $100,647	$21,000
Civil Engineering	84	$79,302	$100,613national $86,517	$19,500
Industrial Engineering	80	$82,701	$111,430national $98,442	$23,750
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	74	$54,192	—national $66,697	$19,500
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	72	$47,927	$70,272national $55,012	$19,500
Criminal Justice and Corrections	72	$41,941	$77,477national $55,378	$17,750
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	62	—	$142,985national $116,539	$21,908
International Relations and National Security Studies	47	$59,562	$74,816national $66,596	$20,500
Design and Applied Arts	47	$61,815	$87,336national $51,490	$19,500
Journalism	45	$45,499	$74,709national $56,278	$18,750
Architectural Sciences and Technology	38	—	—national $70,074	$30,750
Chemistry	27	$84,338	$88,364national $65,120	—
Music	24	$48,272	$60,974national $42,892	$18,500
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management	22	$121,048	—national $85,063	—
English Language and Literature, General	22	$44,153	$67,877national $48,590	—
Sociology	22	—	$69,585national $52,657	—
Physics	21	$53,093	—national $76,786	$25,500
Human Services, General	21	—	$61,152national $48,597	—
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft	8	$36,309	—national $39,775	—
Architecture	1	—	$74,540national $66,914	—
Biotechnology	0	—	—national $67,097	$18,167
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	0	—	$81,320national $55,792	$29,000
Business Administration, Management and Operations	0	$40,275	—national $68,257	$27,334
Finance and Financial Management Services	0	—	$83,023national $83,343	$24,074

Master's degrees (42)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Computer and Information Sciences, General	1,133	$131,773	$145,909national $124,201	$44,988
Engineering, Other	545	$88,936	$116,924national $129,974	$20,500
Engineering, General	385	$116,350	$119,842national $120,215	—
Biotechnology	270	$116,193	$125,179national $107,682	$31,972
Computer Software and Media Applications	199	$87,482	$158,542national $120,083	$32,069
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	195	$124,342	$155,483national $133,654	—
Business/Commerce, General	160	$129,571	$148,490national $125,988	$44,112
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	153	$109,831	$117,139national $124,807	$33,500
Business Administration, Management and Operations	111	$90,182	$84,704national $103,485	$35,875
Mechanical Engineering	99	$96,589	$124,007national $115,974	—
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology	84	$91,279	$111,725national $110,121	$41,000
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management	82	$127,428	—national $121,855	—
Public Administration	80	$63,923	$87,852national $81,408	$41,000
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	69	$56,398	$76,859national $65,184	$41,000
Accounting and Related Services	66	$86,876	$118,744national $95,833	$41,000
Criminal Justice and Corrections	64	$62,000	$93,210national $66,714	$26,340
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	56	$68,910	$70,914national $67,030	$59,559
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	54	$139,712	$143,345national $120,193	$52,979
Civil Engineering	51	$84,714	$100,767national $98,323	—
Public Health	51	$70,318	$81,227national $82,751	$54,667
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	50	$122,071	$125,862national $127,347	$110,894
Systems Engineering	47	—	$117,700national $144,565	—
Medical Illustration and Informatics	47	$87,464	$104,317national $101,441	—
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	38	$68,871	—national $74,607	$40,976
Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology	29	—	$53,164national $82,527	$60,822
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	29	—	$136,474national $129,214	$40,614
Chemical Engineering	22	$89,939	$122,043national $115,468	—
Finance and Financial Management Services	18	$113,126	$169,234national $110,694	—
International Relations and National Security Studies	14	$63,991	—national $95,627	—
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	2	—	$73,724national $62,033	$35,875
Communication and Media Studies	0	—	$97,115national $71,953	$38,918
Education, General	0	—	$75,769national $65,824	—
Educational Administration and Supervision	0	—	—national $71,685	$30,750
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods	0	—	$65,134national $59,916	—
Law	—	—	—national $65,341	$28,049
Legal Professions and Studies, Other	0	—	—national $101,855	$34,167
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies	0	—	$72,910national $55,035	—
Nutrition Sciences	0	—	$62,427national $67,126	—
International/Globalization Studies	0	$70,489	$85,630national $86,219	$40,133
Homeland Security	0	—	$90,323national $96,660	$41,000
Human Services, General	0	—	$69,886national $57,050	—
Human Resources Management and Services	0	—	—national $83,558	$41,770

First professional degrees (7)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	87	$80,262	$145,722national $138,348	$66,665
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	87	$78,649	$84,174national $81,641	$36,500
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	32	$257,670	$191,083national $133,099	$172,213
Education, General	—	$109,178	$110,524national $72,062	$56,375
Law	0	$90,605	$116,706national $107,773	$113,294
Legal Professions and Studies, Other	—	—	$133,189national $86,371	$103,952
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	0	—	$100,761national $85,242	—

Graduate certificates (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	23	—	$74,263national $65,509	—
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	—	—	$138,018national $129,570	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 139 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed. These figures are calculated for all 3 campuses that share this college's federal student-aid ID, so a branch campus shows its institution's figures.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115-5005
Phone: (617) 373-2000
Institutional accreditor: New England Commission on Higher Education

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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