Northeastern has unveiled details of its new “N.U.in Boston” program, which was created to give students admitted to the N.U.in program an option to not travel abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, all students admitted to N.U.in spent their first semester of college abroad in one of a handful of locations; this year all N.U.in admits will see Boston as an option.

Based on the university website and emails sent to admitted students, there will be significant differences between N.U.in Boston and the rest of the undergraduate programs on the Boston campus.

The two biggest experiential differences between N.U.in Boston students and other first-year students at the Boston campus are housing and course offerings. 

N.U.in Boston students will have their own set of courses that will be “taught by Northeastern faculty and will be geared towards the N.U.in Boston cohort.” The website says the majority of the classes will be on the Boston campus, but some may be online or “nearby.”

The website says N.U.in Boston students will not be housed in the freshman residence halls in the heart of campus, but rather in properties “within walking distance to Northeastern or accessible by public transportation and bike sharing, with average commute times of approximately 15-25 minutes.” They will be housed with other N.U.in students in pre-furnished rooms.

N.U.in Boston students will have dining plans similar to other first-years, though at least some of them will have to commute on public transportation to reach the dining halls or Husky Card-taking restaurants where the plans can be used.

Two things that won’t be changed are campus services and the academic calendar. N.U.in Boston students will have access to recreation centers, libraries, health and counseling services and student clubs just the same as any student on campus. And the N.U.in Boston program is set to run from the week after Labor Day through Dec. 18, just like the rest of the undergraduate programs. 

A caveat to this plan is that Northeastern has not yet announced when or how it will reopen its campus, which has been shut since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.