 | |
Former names | Evening Institute for Younger Men (1898–1916) Northeastern College (1916–1922) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Lux, Veritas, Virtus (Latin) |
Motto in English | "Light, Truth, Courage" |
| Type | Privateresearch university |
| Established | 1898; 127 years ago (1898) |
| Accreditation | NECHE |
Academic affiliations | |
| Endowment | $1.85 billion (2024)[1] |
| Budget | $2.2 billion (FY 2024)[2] |
| President | Joseph E. Aoun |
| Provost | David Madigan |
Academic staff | 3,049 (2020)[3] |
| Students | 38,760 (2023)[4] |
| Undergraduates | 21,330 (2023)[4] |
| Postgraduates | 17,430 (2023)[4] |
| Location | ,, United States 42°20′24″N71°05′18″W / 42.34000°N 71.08833°W /42.34000; -71.08833 |
| Campus | Large city, 73 acres (30 hectares) |
| Other campuses[5] | |
| Newspaper | The Huntington News |
| Colors | Red and black[6] |
| Nickname | Huskies |
Sporting affiliations | |
| Mascot | Paws the Husky |
| Website | northeastern.edu |
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Northeastern University, abbreviated asNU orNEU, is aprivateresearch university with its main campus inBoston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by theBoston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male institute before being incorporated as Northeastern College in 1916, gaining university status in 1922.
With more than 38,000 students, Northeastern is the largest university in Massachusetts by enrollment.[7] The university's main campus in Boston is located within the center of the city alongHuntington Avenue andColumbus Avenue near theFenway–Kenmore andRoxbury neighborhoods. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, and most undergraduates participate in acooperative education program.[8] Northeastern is accredited by theNew England Commission of Higher Education and is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education. It isclassified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".[9]
Northeastern maintains satellite campuses inCharlotte, North Carolina;Seattle, Washington;San Jose, California;Oakland, California;Portland, Maine;Burlington, Massachusetts;Miami, Florida;New York City;London; andToronto andVancouver inCanada. In 2019, it purchased theNew College of the Humanities, establishing an additional campus inLondon, England. The university's sports teams, theNortheastern Huskies, compete inNCAA Division I as members of theCoastal Athletic Association (CAA) in 18 varsity sports. The men's and women's hockey teams compete inHockey East, while the men's and women's rowing teams compete in theEastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) andEastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC), respectively.[10]
In May 1896, directors of theBoston Young Men's Christian Association, the first in the U.S., established an Evening Institute for Younger Men, to merge, coordinate and improve its classes that had evolved over the past 40 years. Included among roughly 30 courses offered were algebra, bookkeeping, literature, French, German, Latin, geography, electricity, music, penmanship and physiology. In addition, a banjo club, camera club, orchestra, and weekly parliamentary debates and discussions were promoted. A good education for "any young man of moral character" with a YMCA membership was promised. Located in a new headquarters building at the corner of Boylston and Berkeley streets in Boston, the institute held its first classes in 1898. After a fire, a new YMCA building was constructed onHuntington Avenue in 1913.[11]
The School of Law was also formally established in 1898 with the assistance of an advisory committee, consisting of James Barr Ames, dean of theHarvard Law School; Samuel Bennett, dean of theBoston University School of Law; and Judge James R. Dunbar. In 1903, the first Automobile Engineering School in the country was established, followed by a Polytechnic School in 1904 and a School of Commerce and Finance in 1907. Day classes began in 1909. In 1916, a bill was introduced into theMassachusetts Legislature to incorporate the institute as Northeastern College. After considerable debate and investigation, it was passed in March 1916.[12]
In 1909, the Polytechnic School began offering co-operative engineering courses to eight students. A four-year daytime program had been established consisting of alternating single weeks of classroom instruction and practical work experience with mostly railroad companies that agreed to accept student workers. In 1920, the Co-operative School of Engineering, which later became the College of Engineering, was first authorized to grant degrees in civil, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering.[11][13] The cooperative program, the second of its kind in the U.S. after one inCincinnati, Ohio, was eventually adopted by all departments.[14]
On March 30, 1917, veteran educator Frank Palmer Speare, who had served as director of the institute, was inaugurated as the first president of the newly incorporated Northeastern College. Five years later the college changed its name to Northeastern University to better reflect the increasing depth of its instruction.[15] In March 1923, the university secured general (A.B. and B.S.) degree-granting power from the Legislature, with the exception of the medical and dental degrees.[13]
The College of Liberal Arts was added in 1935. Two years later the Northeastern University Corporation was established, with a board of trustees composed of 31 university members and 8 from theYMCA. Following World War II, Northeastern began admitting women. In 1948, Northeastern separated itself completely from the YMCA.[16]
By 1959, whenCarl Ell who had expanded the university stepped down as president, Northeastern had a local identity as an independent technical university serving a commuter and adult population.[17] That reputation began changing during the presidency ofAsa S. Knowles, from 1959 to 1975. Facing a postwar educational boom, the university broadened undergraduate offerings, increased graduate offerings, modernized administrative and faculty structures, created a Faculty Senate, launched its first-ever capital campaign, reorganized and expanded adult and continuing education, and increased the number of colleges. The university created the College of Education (1953), University College (1960), now called the College of Professional Studies, and the colleges ofPharmacy andNursing (1964), which both later merged into theBouvé College of Health Sciences.[18] The creation of the College of Criminal Justice (1967) followed, and then theKhoury College of Computer Sciences (1982), the first college in the United States dedicated to the field of computer science.[19][20]
Between 1959 and 1975, Northeastern's student population not only grew considerably larger, but also more diverse. At the beginning of this period, most of the student body was composed of white males from New England, the majority of whom came from the Boston-area public schools and primarily studied business or engineering. By 1974–75, women accounted for 33 percent of the nearly 14,000 undergraduates students, while 5 percent were black. Over 900 students came from different foreign countries. Of the graduating class of 2,238, 513 were in Liberal Arts, 462 in Engineering, 389 in Business, 227 in Pharmacy and Allied Health, and the remainder were roughly divided among Education, Boston-Bouvé, Nursing and Criminal Justice.[21]
To attract more women, the university refurbished existing facilities, constructed new women's dormitories and encouraged their participation in all programs. The merger with Boston-Bouvé, a women's college dedicated to physical health, and the creation of the College of Nursing, traditionally a female profession, also contributed to the increase. Though there was an explicit nondiscrimination policy on the books, throughout its history Northeastern had only a handful of black students. In the early 1960s, with financial assistance from theFord Foundation in New York in the form of scholarships and co-ops to black high school students, Northeastern began actively recruiting black students. By 1975, black student-led organizations included the Afro-photo Society, Student Grill, Health Careers Club, The Onyx (a black student newspaper), Muhindi Literary Guild, the Outing Club, Black Engineering Society, and the first recognized black fraternity at the university, the Omicron chapter ofIota Phi Theta. In addition, the number of foreign students increased from 170 in the 1950s and 1960s to 960 by 1974–75.[21]
By the early 1980s, under PresidentKenneth G. Ryder, the one-time night commuter school had grown into one of the largest private universities in the nation at around 55,000 students. In 1990, the first class with more live-on campus rather than commuter students was graduated. After Ryder's retirement in 1989, the university adopted a slow and more thoughtful approach to change.[22] Following an economic downturn, a 1991 trustee committee report described the situation as "life threatening to Northeastern," warning of a $17 million budget gap with no funding mechanisms to cover it.[22] That year PresidentJohn A. Curry formulated a new strategy of transforming Northeastern into a "smaller, leaner, better place to work and study," describing unacceptable compromises in the quality and reputation of the university that had been made in the quest for more students. Staff were terminated and admissions targets were reduced, with applicant numbers beginning to rise and attrition rates fall by the end of Curry's tenure.[22]
When Curry left office in 1996, the university population had been systematically reduced to about 25,000. Incoming PresidentRichard M. Freeland decided to focus on recruiting the type of students who were already graduating as the school's prime demographic.[22] Freeland focused on improving academics and restructuring the administration with a goal of "creating the country's premier program of practice oriented education".[22] In the early 1990s, the university began a $485 million construction program that included residence halls, academic and research facilities, and athletic centers. During the university's transition, Freeland reorganized the co-operative education system, decentralizing it into a department-based system to allow better integration of classroom learning with workplace experience.[22] Full-time degree programs shifted from a four-quarter system to two traditional semesters and two summer "minimesters," allowing students to both delve more deeply into their academic courses and have longer and more substantiveco-op placements, forcing departments to redesign aging programs to fit the longer format.[22] Freeland also created a marketing department, uncommon for universities at the time, and expanded the university advancement office, while setting an ambitious $200 million fundraising target with the goal of reducing dependency on tuition.[22]
Between 1995 and 2007, averageSAT exam scores increased more than 200 points, retention rates rose dramatically, and applications doubled.[23] In 1998, Freeland set an admissions target of 2,800 freshman per year, allowing for adequate tuition income without compromising on education.[22] Throughout the transformation, his oft-repeated goal was to crack the top 100 of theU.S. News & World Report's rankings of America's best universities.[24] With this accomplished by 2005, the transformation goal from commuting school to nationally recognized research university was complete. Freeland stepped down on August 15, 2006, and was followed by PresidentJoseph E. Aoun, a formerdean at theUniversity of Southern California.[25]
As part of a five-year, $75 million Academic Investment Plan that ran from 2004 to 2009, the university concentrated on undergraduate education, core graduate professional programs, and centers of research excellence. Faculty was originally to be bolstered by 100 new tenured and tenure-track professors, later expanded to include 300 additional tenure and tenure-track faculty in interdisciplinary fields. Aoun also placed more emphasis on improving community relations by reaching out to leaders of the neighborhoods surrounding the university.[26] In addition, Aoun created more academic partnerships with other institutions in the Boston area, includingTufts University,Hebrew College and theSchool of the Museum of Fine Arts.[27]
During this period, Northeastern rapidly advanced in national rankings. It placed 42nd in the 2014–15 edition ofU.S. News & World Report's best colleges and universities rankings, a 7 position jump from 2013 to 2014 and a 27 place gain since 2010–11.[28] Critics have argued that Northeastern's rise in the rankings shows that the university has "cracked the code" to academic rankings, while others suggested it figured out how to "game the system."[29][30] The positive feedback effect of its placement, in turn, allowed the institution to significantly increase its endowment, admit a more-competitive student body, hire new faculty, add to its campuses and expand its flagship co-op program.[31]
The Empower Campaign was launched in May 2013 for student support, faculty advancement/expansion, innovation in education and research. Its goal was to raise $1 billion by 2017, with half of that being from philanthropic support and the other half from industry and government partnerships. The goal was raised to $1.25 billion in 2015. The campaign was inspired by Richard D'Amore and Alan McKim's $60 million donation to the university's business school in 2012.[32] In October 2017, Northeastern revealed that the final total of the Empower campaign was $1.4 billion. More than 100,000 individuals and over 3,800 organizations donated to Empower, from 110 countries.[33]
In 2021, theHillel at Northeastern University, which serves as the school's Jewish student center, experienced an incident ofantisemitic vandalism: a sacred ornament known as amezuzah was torn down from the building's rear entrance. The mezuzah was torn down following the invitation by Hillel of reformed neo-NaziTM Garret, a human rights advocate who has dedicated his work to anti-racism and anti-violence programs. The Hillel at Northeastern University felt Garret was "an ally of the Jewish people".[34] University presidentJoseph Aoun condemned the act in an email sent to the school community.[35] A security camera video was taken of the individual performing the vandalism, but no suspect was ever caught.
Northeastern University's Experiential Technologies lab contains, among others,virtual reality equipment. On September 12, 2022, police responded to an incident at the lab, claiming that a pressurized case, accompanied by a note that critiqued the school and its relationship with VR developers, had exploded.[36] The explosion injured Jason Duhaime, a 45-year-old university employee. Police became skeptical after finding several inconsistencies in Duhaime's testimony, such as a lack of physical evidence of an explosion.[37] Additionally, it was discovered that the note attached to the explosive device was composed on Duhaime's computer only a day earlier.[36] Although a second device of similar construction was found elsewhere on campus, the threat was neutralized;[38] Northeastern resumed normal academic activities the next day.[39] The following month, federal prosecutors determined that Jason Duhaime, the Northeastern employee who claimed to be the sole witness of the explosion and was seemingly injured by it, had concocted the event as a hoax.[38] Duhaime was subsequently charged with a fine of $250,000 and a five year in prison sentence. He was also fired from his position within the university.[36]
In May 2024 it was announced thatMarymount Manhattan College would merge with Northeastern University, which was to be renamed Northeastern University-New York City. The merger would not be finalized until it received regulatory approval, which could take up to two years.[40][41]
Presidents of Northeastern University:
Northeastern offers 329 undergraduate majors; 199 of these are combined majors, such as Business Administration/Communication Studies.[42] At the graduate level, there are 36 PhD programs and 264 other graduate programs. Northeastern had 3,028 faculty in Fall 2021.[43] Academics at Northeastern is grounded in a liberal arts education and the integration of classroom studies withexperiential learning opportunities, includingcooperative education, student research,service learning, and global experience, includingstudy abroad and international co-op.[44][45] The university's cooperative education program places nearly 10,000 students annually in full-time, paid professional positions with almost 3,000 co-op employers in Boston and around the world.[46][47][43]
Northeastern University isaccredited by theNew England Commission of Higher Education.[48]
Northeastern University has eight degree-granting colleges:[49]
These colleges house schools and departments.[50] There are also two separate schools, not housed within the other colleges:
In 2024, venture capitalist John Martinson donated $5 million as part of Northeastern's reimagined honors program.[51] Northeastern's John Martinson Honors Program selects students from the regular applicant pool with no separate application.[51] The program includes specialty work in a major field through college-specific choices including specialized advanced honors seminars and an independent research project.[52] Honors students receive exclusive housing in their first year, placed in a Living-Learning Community in either East Village or International Village. In 2017, the program introduced the Student Assessed Integrated Learning (SAIL) app, which was later retired, as well as a one-credit Honors Discovery course for students to explore Northeastern.[53] In this course, they are introduced to the program's key outcomes: "Stoking Intellectual Curiosity, Creating a Thriving Honors Community, Facilitating Self-Exploration and Discovery, and, ultimately, Making an Impact in the World."[54]
Launched in 1909, Northeastern has one of the largest and oldestcooperative education (co-op) programs in the world.[55] In order to graduate from Northeastern, all students must meet the cooperative education requirement which can be achieved through a co-op employment, or through study abroad. Most students opt for at least one stint of employment through the co-op program, however students are able to complete one, two, or three employment placements prior to graduation. When pursuing two or three placements, students alternate periods of academic study with periods of professional employment (usually paid) related to their major. If students complete three co-op employment placements, they will take five years to graduate. If they complete one or two, they may graduate in four years.
Students on co-op do not pay tuition and students not living on campus do not pay room and board, however they may still need to pay certain fees, such as recreation fees to use the gym facilities. The co-op program typically begins the spring of the second year or fall of the third year (after a more traditional program for the first semesters on campus). Students usually take anywhere between one and three with 96% participating in one and 78% participating in two or more.[56]
50% of Northeastern students receive a job offer from a previous co-op employer as of 2017[update].[57]
Northeastern has semester-long study abroad programs with placements in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America. Some participating schools include:University of Cambridge andLondon School of Economics, England;University of Edinburgh, Scotland;Reims Management School, France;European School of Business andCouncil on International Educational Exchange, Germany;University of Cape Town, South Africa;University of Auckland, New Zealand;Swinburne University of Technology, Australia;University of Tokyo, Japan;American College of Thessaloniki, Greece andPontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile and also Antarctica.[58][59]
Northeastern's International Business program is a member of the International Partnership of Business Schools. Through this program International Business students have the opportunity to be awarded a dual-degree from Northeastern as well as from a sister school abroad.[60]
The university provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to engage in research through the Center for Experiential Education,[61] CenSSIS Research Experience for Undergraduates,[62] Honors Research, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program,[63] and Provost's Office research grants.[64] In FY 2007, annual external research funding exceeded $78 million.[65] In FY 2009–10, the research funding is close to $82 million.[66] In 2002, Northeastern's Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems was designated an NSF Engineering Research Center. In 2004, Northeastern was one of six institutions selected by the National Science Foundation as a center for research in nanotechnology. In 2010, Northeastern was granted $12 million by an alum for aHomeland security research facility,[67] to be named the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, after its chief benefactor.[67]
| 2024[68] | 2023[69] | 2022[70][71] | 2021[72] | 2020[73] | 2019[74] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applicants | 98,373 | 96,327 | 91,086 | 75,244 | 64,459 | 62,263 |
| Admits | 5,115 | 5,459 | 6,179 | 13,829 | 13,199 | 11,240 |
| Admit rate | 5.2% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Enrolled | ~2,600 | 2,738 | 2,620 | 4,504 | 3,128 | 2,996 |
| SAT range | 1460–1530 | 1450–1535 | 1440–1530 | 1430–1540 | 1390–1540 | |
| ACT range | 33–35 | 33–35 | 33–35 | 33–35 | 32–35 |
For undergraduate students, Northeastern's 2023 acceptance rate was 5.6%. Of the record-large pool of 96,327 applicants, only ~5,389 were admitted.[69] The sharp rise in applications and drop in admission is attributed to an over enrollment issue that the admission office attempted to fix. 2020 acceptance rate was 18.1%. For the Class of 2024, Northeastern received 64,459 applications, with 13,199 students accepted. In 2018, the record number of applications led to a drop in acceptance rate, eight percentage points lower than the previous year. Additionally, Northeastern was one of the top ten most applied to colleges in 2018.[71]
For the Class of 2022 (enrolling fall 2018), Northeastern received 62,272 applications, accepted 12,042 (19%), and enrolled 2,746.[75] For the freshmen who enrolled, the middle 50% range ofSAT scores was 670–750 for reading and writing, 690–790 for math, while the middle 50% rangeACT composite range was 32–34.[75]
Of those who applied in 2016, 9,500 were international students, up from 1,128 international applicants in 2006.[76] Of those who enrolled, 20% were international students. In the Power of International Education's 2017 Open Doors report, Northeastern was ranked as the fourth-highest institution in the United States to host international students.[77][78][76]
The number of international students totals over 12,000 representing 138 different nations and over half of the student body. The number of international students at Northeastern has steadily increased by about 1,000 students every year since 2008.[79]
| Academic rankings | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Forbes[80] | 73 |
| U.S. News & World Report[81] | 46 |
| Washington Monthly[82] | 100 |
| WSJ/College Pulse[83] | 138 |
| Global | |
| ARWU[84] | 201–300 |
| QS[85] | 384 |
| THE[86] | 201–250 |
| U.S. News & World Report[87] | 220 |
In the 2026 edition ofU.S. News & World Report rankings, Northeastern was tied for 46th in the National Universities category.[88] The 2021 edition ofU.S. News & World Report ranked Northeastern 49th in its annual ranking of national universities.[28] In 2014,College Prowler gave Northeastern an "A+" rating for the quality of classes, professors, and overall academic environment.[89] A 2008 Reader's Digest survey ranked NU as the second safest school in the United States afterJohns Hopkins University in Maryland.[90]
Northeastern University's main campus is located on 73 acres (30 ha) mostly alongHuntington Avenue andColumbus Avenue in an area known as theFenway Cultural District, part of Boston'sFenway andRoxbury neighborhood, near theMuseum of Fine Arts,Symphony Hall,New England Conservatory, andChristian Science Center.[98]
In 2019, the campus was officially designated as an arboretum byArbNet, making it the only campus in Boston to receive the designation.[99][100]
The first baseballWorld Series took place on theHuntington Avenue Grounds, now part of the campus. The site is commemorated in front of Churchill Hall by a statue ofCy Young.[101]
In 2014, Northeastern officially launched a Public Art Initiative to place a series of murals and other art around the Boston campus. Among those whose work has been commissioned are French artistJef Aérosol, Houston-born artist Daniel Anguilu, Los Angeles-based El Mac and Charleston, South Carolina-born artistShepard Fairey, known for his 2008Barack Obama "Hope" poster.[102]
During theGreat Depression in the 1930s, as enrollment grew to over 4,600 students, President Frank Palmer Speare announced that Northeastern would build a new campus.[103]Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott, a Boston-based architectural firm, was selected to design the campus near the Huntington Avenue YMCA building that continued to house library and classroom spaces. Richards Hall, which housed classrooms, laboratories and administrative offices, was the first building completed in October 1938. Its light gray, glazed brick exterior with vertical strips of windows was replicated in other buildings of what later became known as the 1944 master plan. A mix ofBeaux-Arts andBauhaus architectural styles defined by stripped-down classicism and open courtyards that resembled that ofMassachusetts Institute of Technology across theCharles River. In a June 14, 1934 article, theBoston Evening Transcript described the campus design as "modernistic classical."[103]
In 1961, under President Asa Knowles, the university purchased a 7-acre red brick industrial complex once owned by theUnited Drug Company to build athletic facilities. Three of the buildings facing Forsyth Street were demolished, but due to a need for more office and lab space, the remaining buildings were divided into four sections now called Lake Hall, Holmes Hall, Nightingale Hall and Meserve Hall.[104]
During the last few years, major developments include Northeastern becoming recognized as anarboretum, opening a $225 million research and laboratory complex known as theInterdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex (ISEC), launching the Institute for Experiential Artificial Intelligence with a $50 million donation, as well as renaming the College of Computer and Information Science to theKhoury College of Computer Sciences with another $50 million donation fromAmin Khoury.[99][105][106][107]
EXP, another large research facility created to support Northeastern's work in autonomous vehicles, drones, and humanoid robots recently opened for the 2023–2024 school year.[108] This building is approximately 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2), including a 15,000 square foot makers space for students of all colleges and degree levels.[109][110]
In early 2024, Northeastern University installedCicely Carew's art piece, "Rooted." Massive student pushback surfaced, including a student-founded petition that gained almost two-thousand signatures, citing that the installation obscured the iconic Krentzman Quadrangle. In particular, students in the Northeastern University Class of 2024 expressed that "Rooted" obscured their graduation photos and were likened to "loofah trees" or from theLorax movie. In response, the Northeastern University Student Government Association, passed legislation in October 2024 to have it removed or relocated to another area of campus.[111]
On June 14, 2024, Northeastern released its third institutional master plan. The plan includes the demolition and replacement ofMatthews Arena and theCabot Center, as well as residential buildings White Hall, Cullinane Hall, Burstein Hall, Rubenstein Hall, and the complex composed of Lake, Meserve, Nightingale and Holmes halls. Academic buildings Forsyth Hall and the Mugar Life Sciences Building are also to be demolished and rebuilt.[112] As of January 2025, White Hall has been demolished.[113]
The 2011 Sustainable Endowments Institute's College Sustainability Report Card issued Northeastern a grade of "A−" for its environmental sustainability efforts and programs.[114] Additionally, thePrinceton Review rated Northeastern as one of the top 15 "Green Colleges" in the nation in 2010.[115] In 2011, the GreenMetric World University ranking evaluated Northeastern as the second greenest university in the world, and first in the US.[116] Northeastern placed first in the rankings again in 2014.[117]
In accordance with a Boston zoning code amendment in 2007,[118] International Village residence hall was certified as aLEED Gold building in 2010.[119] Dockser Hall was the first building on campus to achieve LEED certification, also Gold, with the completion of its renovation in 2010.[120] East Village was rated LEED Silver in 2016 and the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex was rated LEED Gold in 2018.[121][122] The university affiliated LightView apartment building is targeting a LEED Platinum certification, the first in student housing in the City of Boston.[123]
In 2004, Northeastern was awarded the gold medal by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for its Dedham Campus.[124]
TheMBTA subwayOrange Line andGreen Line E branch pass through the Northeastern campus. The university is centrally served by stationsRuggles on the Orange Line andNortheastern University on the Green Line. Ruggles station is also served by theNeedham,Providence/Stoughton, andFranklin/Foxboro Lines of theMBTA Commuter Rail system and is a major transfer point for MBTA bus routes.[125]Massachusetts Avenue on the Orange Line andSymphony andMuseum of Fine Arts on the Green Line serve the outskirts of the campus. The Green Line is also paralleled byMBTA bus route39.
Facing Huntington Avenue, Krentzman Quadrangle is the main quadrangle on the campus of Northeastern. It is recognizable by the "Northeastern University" brick sign in front. The quad lies at the heart of the original campus between Ell, Dodge and Richards halls, and serves as a gathering space for community members and outdoor activities. It was named after Harvey Krentzman, a businessman and 1949 alumnus.[126]
Centennial Common is a lawn created to mark the 100th anniversary of Northeastern University in 1998. The grassy area borders Shillman Hall, Ryder Hall, Meserve Hall, Leon Street, Forsyth Street and Ruggles Station, and serves as a gateway to the West Campus. The area is a popular gathering spot frequently used by students for recreational purposes and outdoor activities by student organizations.[127]
The Marino Recreation Center, named after 1961 alumnusRoger Marino, co-founder ofEMC Corporation, is an indoor fitness center that opened in the Fall of 1996.[128]
Ell Hall, completed in 1947, is one of the oldest buildings on campus and is centered on Krentzman Quadrangle. It contains administrative offices, classrooms, art display space, a 992-seat auditorium and the Northeastern Bookstore. Like Dodge Hall, Ell Hall has five floors and also connects to the tunnel network. The tunnels interconnect the major administrative and traditional academic buildings for use in inclement weather.[129] Ell Hall was named forCarl Ell, president of Northeastern from 1940 to 1959, who is credited with expanding the campus and making cooperative education an integral part of the university-wide curriculum.[103]
Blackman Auditorium, Northeastern's largest event space, hosts many different types of events for classes, theater groups, dance teams, musical groups, choral groups, fraternities, sororities, and orchestral ensembles. Blackman has hosted many talented individuals fromMaya Angelou toSeth Meyers.[130]
Gallery 360 is Northeastern University's art gallery, which is free and open to the public throughout the year. The 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) space houses temporary exhibits of artworks by visiting artists, students, faculty, and the surrounding community. Some larger exhibits also include the adjacent hallways for additional space. Curation and administration is under the supervision of the College of Arts Media and Design (CAMD).[131]
Dodge Hall sits on Krentzman Quadrangle and primarily serves as the home of Northeastern'sD'Amore-McKim School of Business. The building was completed in 1952 and named for Robert Gray Dodge, a former chairman of Northeastern's board of trustees. It has five floors.[132] From 1953 until Snell Library opened in 1990, Dodge Hall's basement served as the university's main library.[133][134]Originally known as West Building, Richards Hall borders Krentzman Quadrangle and was the first building constructed on campus in October 1938. Its light gray brick and vertical window strips design was the work of alumnus Herman Voss and was replicated in other surrounding buildings.[103] Richards Hall was named for Boston industrialistJames Lorin Richards, a former board trustee.[11]
On February 21, 2014, Northeastern had its groundbreaking ceremony for the new Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex (ISEC) on Columbus Avenue.[135] Completed in 2017, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building provides research and educational space for students and faculty from the College of Science, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, College of Engineering, and Khoury College of Computer Sciences. The centerpiece of the complex includes a large atrium, a spiral staircase, and a 280-seat auditorium.[136]
Opened in 1910 and originally known as the Boston Arena, Matthews Arena is the world's oldest surviving indoor ice hockey arena.[137] Located on the eastern edge of Northeastern University's campus, it is home to theNortheastern Huskies men's and women's hockey teams, and men's basketball team as well as theWentworth Institute of Technology's men's hockey team. The arena is named after former university Board of Trustees Chairman George J. Matthews, a 1956 graduate, and his wife, the late Hope M. Matthews, who helped fund a major renovation in 1982.[138] The arena is the original home of theNHLBoston Bruins and the WHA New England Whalers (now the NHLCarolina Hurricanes). It was also the secondary home to the NBABoston Celtics in the 1940s. It has hosted all or part of theAmerica East Conference men's basketball tournament a total of seven times and hosted the 1960Frozen Four. The arena also served as the original home to the annualBeanpot tournament between Boston's four major college hockey programs.[139]
East Village is Northeastern's newest dorm building and only houses freshmen and upperclassmen who are in the University Honors Program.[140] The building is located at 291 St. Botolph Street and opened in January 2015.[141][142] Honors freshman live in its suite-style rooms whereas upperclassmen can choose full apartments with kitchen facilities. The building also contains 5 classrooms in the basement and an event space on the 17th Floor.[143]
There are current plans to build a new 23 story dorm that has been approved and would provide housing for an additional 1,300 students.[144][145]
In 2008, West Village Building F was recognized in American Institute of Architects New England 2008 Merit Awards for Design Excellence.[146]
Northeastern's southernmost section of campus is located along Columbus Avenue in Roxbury, parallel to theOrange line. The university expanded south into Roxbury at the same time as they were building West Village. In 2001, Davenport Commons was opened, providing 585 students housing in two residence halls while 75 families representing a range of incomes have been able to purchase a condo or townhouse at or below Boston's market value. Davenport Commons also created commercial space on Tremont Street.[147]
During the summer of 2006, Northeastern proposed a new residence hall further away from the main campus, at the corner of Tremont Street and Ruggles Street. Construction began in late February 2007. In the spring of 2009, the complex was named International Village and opened later that summer. It consists of three interconnected residential towers, an office tower, administration building, and a gym.[148] A 400-seat dining hall is available to all members of the Northeastern community as well as the public.[149]
Lightview was launched in 2019, which was Boston's first developer-led, equity-financed student housing project built and financed byAmerican Campus Communities exclusively for Northeastern students. The building is 20 stories tall and includes a fitness area as well as social and recreational spaces.[150]
Northeastern University Libraries include the Snell Library and the John D. O'Bryant African-American Institute Library. The NU School of Law Library is separately administered by the NU School of Law.[151] The NU Libraries receivedfederal depository designation in 1963.[133]
The Snell Library opened in 1990 at a cost of $35 million.[133] It is also home to the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections department, which includes theBenjamin LaGuer papers collection. The Special Collections focus on records of Boston-area community-based organizations that are concerned with social justice issues.[152] In June 2016, the library staff adopted anopen-access policy to make its members' professional researchpublicly accessible online.[153]
In addition to Northeastern's main Boston campus, the university operates a number of satellite locations in Massachusetts, including the George J. Kostas Research Institute inBurlington, a Financial District campus in the Hilton Hotel nearFaneuil Hall in downtown Boston, aDedham Campus inDedham, and a Marine Science Center inNahant.[154] The Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, which opened in 2011, contains the Laboratory for Structural Testing of Resilient and Sustainable Systems (STReSS Laboratory). The laboratory is "equipped to test full-scale and large-scale structural systems and materials to failure so as to explore the development of new strategies for designing, simulating, and sensing structural and infrastructure systems".[155]
The university has also launched a number of full-service remote network campuses in North America, including inCharlotte, North Carolina, in October 2011,Seattle, in January 2013,San Jose, California, in March 2015,Toronto, in 2016 andVancouver, British Columbia in 2019. In January 2020, Northeastern announced that it was opening the Roux Institute inPortland, Maine, a new research institute focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning in digital and life sciences.[156] The decision came after Northeastern was selected for a $100 million donation by David Roux, in hopes of turning the city into a new tech hub and in an attempt to spark economic growth in the region.[157]
More recently, the university has continued to focus on global expansion. In late 2018, Northeastern announced the acquisition of theNew College of the Humanities, a small private London-based college founded by the philosopherA. C. Grayling. The move was seen as unorthodox as most U.S. colleges have typically chosen to build new campus branches abroad, rather than purchasing existing ones.[158][159]
On July 1, 2022,Mills College in Oakland, California was renamed to Mills College at Northeastern University through a merger between the university and the liberal arts college, which had financial troubles.[160]
On May 29, 2024, Northeastern andMarymount Manhattan College in New York City announced a merger that will create Northeastern University – New York City.[161]
Undergraduates at Northeastern matriculate from 48 states, with around 25% coming from within the state of Massachusetts. The next-largest feeder states are New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.[162]
Northeastern has more than 16 varsity teams competing in the NCAA, over 30 club sports teams and over 400 student clubs and organizations. Among the student-run organizations are: Resident Student Association (RSA), Student Government Association (SGA),The Huntington News, Northeastern Television (NUTV), Northeastern Shakespeare Society (NSS), Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL), Social Justice Resource Center (SJRC), and the Council for University Programs (CUP) organize activities for Northeastern students as well as the surrounding community.[163]
Northeastern hosts six student-run a cappella groups on campus: three mixed ensembles (Distilled Harmony, The Downbeats, and The Nor'easters), two treble ensembles (Pitch, Please! and Treble on Huntington), and one TTBB ensemble (UniSons). All groups regularly compete in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). The Nor'easters have performed at ICCA finals in New York City three times and won the ICCA title in 2013 and 2017. Pitch, Please! competed at ICCA finals in 2019.[164]
Since 1927, Northeastern University's intercollegiate athletic teams have been known as theHuskies.[165] Prior to 1927, Northeastern had no official mascot. A committee was formed to choose a mascot and members eventually settled on theSiberian Husky. In February 1927, a pup was selected from legendaryIditarod Trail Sled Dog Race competitorLeonhard Seppala's kennel in Poland Springs, Maine. On March 4, 1927, King Husky I arrived at Northeastern in a campus celebration for which classes were canceled. Since then, live mascots have been a Siberian Husky breed, but after losing two mascots in three months in the early 1970s and after upheaval due to having live canine mascots, the university's administration was reluctant to continue the live mascot tradition. In 2005, the university resumed the live mascot tradition; the current live mascot is named Moses.[166] The university's official costumed mascot isPaws.
The university's official colors are Northeastern red and black, with white often used as an alternate color. The university fight song, "All Hail, Northeastern," was composed by Charles A. Pethybridge, class of 1932.[167] Since 2005, 14 of 18 Northeastern varsity sports teams primarily compete inNCAA Division I'sColonial Athletic Association (CAA).[168]
During its first decades, Northeastern initially had seven athletics teams: basketball, cross country, indoor track, outdoor track, crew and football.[103]
Northeastern sponsors the following sports teams:[168]
The baseball, soccer, lacrosse and rugby teams compete atParsons Field, a multipurpose facility located inBrookline, a mile and a half from the campus. The field's baseball diamond was named Friedman Diamond in 1988. The field hockey team, along with the Huskies' track and field teams, compete at a sports complex about 10 miles (16 km) away from campus inDedham.[169]Matthews Arena, which opened 1910, is home to the hockey and basketball programs. The 4,666-seat arena is located close to campus, just off Massachusetts Avenue. It is considered the world's oldest multi-purpose athletic building. Henderson Boathouse is home to the Huskies' men's & women's rowing squads. The Henderson Boathouse is located on theCharles River near Soldiers Field Road inAllston. The university also maintains theCabot Physical Education Center, which opened in 1954 and includes a basketball court; an indoor track and natatorium; the 10,755 square feet (999.2 m2) Gries Center for Sports Medicine and Performance Center; a squash facility; and the William E. Carter Playground, a renovated community park on Columbus Avenue.[170]
Thebaseball team was founded in 1921 and has since competed in oneCollege World Series and played in the NCAA regionals seven times.[168] In the 2008 National Championship, the team made the Grand Finals and placed fourth behindUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison,University of Washington, andUniversity of California, Berkeley, while defeatingBrown University,Princeton University,University of Pennsylvania andHarvard University.[171]
In 2009, Northeastern eliminated its 74-year-oldfootball program.[172] From 1933 to 2009, theNortheastern Huskies football program's all-time record was 290-365-17 (.444), it produced 20 All-Americans and won the 2002Atlantic 10 Conference championship.[173] Citing sparse attendance, numerous losing seasons and the expense to renovate Parsons Field to an acceptable standard, the university's board of trustees voted on November 20, 2009, to end the football program. According to President Joseph Aoun, "Leadership requires that we make these choices. This decision allows us to focus on our existing athletic programs."[174]
In addition to intercollegiate athletics, Northeastern offers 40 club sports, includingsailing,judo,rugby,lacrosse, Olympic-Styletaekwondo,alpine skiing,squash,cycling, andultimate Frisbee. In 2005 the women's rugby team finished third in the nation in Division II, while in the same year themen's rugby team won the largestannual tournament in the United States. Recently, the women's rugby team competed and placed 11th at theCollegiate Rugby Championship. In the 2008–09 academic year the Northeastern Club Field Hockey and Women's Basketball teams won their respective National Championships. From 2007 to 2009, the Northeastern Club Baseball team won three straight New England Club Baseball Association championships.[175] The Club Taekwondo team placed 1st overall in Division II for the 2018–19 Season in the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference.[176]
On May 25, 2010, the club baseball team defeatedPenn State to win the National Club Baseball Association Division II World Series and the national championship.[177]
Themen's andwomen's hockey teams compete in theHockey East conference. Northeastern defeated Boston College, 4–2, to win the 2019 Beanpot.[178] and in 2020, Northeastern beat Boston University, 5–4, in overtime to win the Beanpot for the third year in a row before losing in 2022 in the finals to Boston University.[178] Northeastern also won the 2023 Beanpot in a shootout against Harvard and again in 2024 in a 4–3 OT win against Boston University.[179] In addition to winning the Beanpot title, Northeastern took home both awards with the award for most valuable player being presented toAdam Gaudette and the Eberly Award being presented toCayden Primeau who had a save percentage of .974 (making him the goalie with second highest save percentage to win the award in the 44 years the award has been given).[180]
Started in 2005, the Underwear Run is a Northeastern-sponsored event around fall midterm season in which students strip down to their underwear and run a track around campus and near parts of the city. The Northeastern University Police Department (NUPD) supervises the event to maintain the flow of traffic through the city. Students have described it as a "liberating experience" that "brings a sense of community and builds school spirit."[181] Though the event was officially cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due toCOVID-19 concerns, it was unofficially organized by students in fall of 2021.[182]
Organized by the Resident Student Association, Husky Hunt is a 24-hour city-wide scavenger hunt that has 50 teams of students roaming around theGreater Boston area in search of locations that correspond to clues, games, puzzles, and riddles.[183] The scavenger hunt starts with a preliminary qualifying quiz of which only 1/3 of the total group of participating teams progress to the hunt.[184]
Northeastern University has more than 275,000 living alumni based in over 180 countries around the world.[185]
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The son of Greek immigrants, Kostas graduated from Northeastern University with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1943.
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