Northeastern’s total number of undergraduate applications surged once again for the 2025-26 academic year, totalling a record 105,092 applications, according to a Jan. 12 Northeastern Global News, or NGN, article.
The number of applications is up from 98,373 for the 2024-25 academic year and 96,327 for the 2023-24 academic year. This year’s number marks a 63% increase, or an additional 40,633 applications, since 2020. The university’s undergraduate student population totaled 23,783 in 2024.
Admission to Northeastern has become increasingly competitive in recent years as applications continue to spike and the university’s acceptance rate steadily decreases. Last year, Northeastern had a 54% yield rate, which is the number of students who chose to attend the university after being accepted, according to the annual university update presented to the faculty senate Dec. 11 by Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning Ken Henderson.
“In today’s world, families are seeking clear measures of what the college [return on investment] actually is and Northeastern’s message has been very clear,” Satyajit Dattagupta, Northeastern’s chief enrollment officer and executive vice chancellor, told NGN, the university-run media outlet.
The university’s acceptance rate reached an all-time low last year at 5.2%, which only accounts for students admitted to the Boston campus. The 2024 application cycle marked the third year in a row where the university’s acceptance rate was in the single digits after it declined from 5.6% in 2023 and 6.7% in 2022.
The university’s ever-expanding global presence has garnered national attention, with students studying at Northeastern’s 14 campuses around the world. Northeastern acquired Marymount Manhattan College in May 2024, marking the university’s 13th satellite campus. According to the chancellor’s university update, 1,554 students participated in the N.U.in program last year across nine partner locations, 811 students participated in Global Scholars in London or Oakland and 733 students participated in the London Scholars program.
For the 2025-26 academic year, the highest numbers of applicants came from New York, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and Texas. Internationally, the most interest in Northeastern came from China, India, Canada, South Korea and Brazil.
Dattagupta said in the NGN article that Northeastern provides a unique student experience.
“It is for this reason that I think our message is resonating and the record applications are a reflection of that,” he said.
