By Taylor Dobbs and Melissa Werthmann, News Staff

Northeastern’s number of applications climbed again this year, from last year’s record-setting 43,948 to 44,189, topping the university’s all-time high for the second year in a row, officials said.

As the number of applications to Northeastern increases, so does the percentage of students it must deny admission because of limited enrollment space, Jane Brown, vice president for enrollment management, said.

“The university is committed to keeping the number of incoming first- years to 2,800 students,” she said. “What that means is that we’ll be increasingly selective.”

Brown said the number of applications has increased 45 percent in the last five years. While the university is forced to limit the number of incoming students, the growing number of applications allows the admissions office to set higher standards.

“Typically the academic profile of incoming students will be stronger,” Brown said.

There is still some debate within the administration as to the actual number of applicants, but Brown confirmed that 44,189 is current as of press time, in line with the number President Joseph Aoun tweeted Tuesday, breaking the news. In the tweet, he said NU was the second-most applied-to private university in the country.

Brown said the statistics fluctuate slightly as applications get sorted, but the final number will be close to the current count.
Students had varying opinions of the number’s importance. Tom Nigl,  a freshman chemical engineering major, said the number reflects the growing popularity of Northeastern’s co-op program.

“[The number] really speaks to how much effort the president’s put into expanding our university with all the research and expanding knowledge of our co-op even further,” Nigl said.

Brown agreed the co-op program is definitely a draw to Northeastern, and the university publicizes its experiential learning opportunities to potential students.

“The primary reason is that families really see Northeastern as a good value is because we not only provide a very rigorous academic education, but also hands on experience,” she said.

The most important factor for many students, Brown said, was coming to visit campus. She said Northeastern’s “beautiful, coherent” urban campus is an important distinction from other schools in the area.

Brown said about 73,000 people came to visit campus this year.

“That number has tremendously increased over the last couple of years,” she said.

As for the future, Brown said the university’s goal is not to continue to increase the number of applicants, but to focus on quality.
“The goal is to get the right students in the applicant pool,” she said. Admissions officials seek innovative and creative students who they think will thrive at Northeastern, Brown said.

Improving the applicant pool comes largely through guidance counselors and others who help guide students in choosing a school.

“The message gets out through, very often, guidance counselors who, because they’re working with different students every year, they’ll know the kind of academic credentials a student needs to get into Northeastern,” Brown said.

As the increasing number of applicants causes admissions to be more selective, these credentials will become higher and higher, she said.

In the future, university officials plan to continue to seek students from all cultures and walks of life, Brown said. Aggressive and energetic marketing, she said, will help them reach those students, both in the US and abroad.

“I don’t know that [the applicant pool] will continue to grow in numbers,” Brown said, “but I think it will continue to grow in quality.”