In 2019, Northeastern began expanding its global presence by spreading its wings over the New College of the Humanities, or NCH, a struggling private university located in a townhouse in the Bloomsbury neighborhood of London. 

While NCH was initially a host campus for students enrolled in the N.U.in program, it evolved into an institution independent from Northeastern known as Northeastern University London when Northeastern purchased NCH in February 2019. This independence, which is unique from other global campuses across Northeastern’s network, built a sense of mystery around what happens across the pond. 

NU London operates independently of U.S. education standards and is linked to Northeastern University Boston through ownership alone. It was granted degree awarding power in February 2020 and officially became a university in July 2022. 

The London campus

NU London operates at two campuses in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and offers both U.S. and U.K.-accredited degrees. The main campus is located at Devon House, a three-floor building tucked away in St. Katherine’s Docks, offering a quiet and more relaxed atmosphere for learning. The second campus is Portsoken, which mirrors London’s infamous high-rise buildings. This building is shared with another university, the Business Professional People University, or BPP, which occupies floors one through four while NU London occupies floors five through eight.

Students studying at NU London can enroll in the dual-degree program, which offers a three-year stay in London, but the majority choose to stay for just a semester or one full academic year. Students who remain for a semester are referred to as “Global Scholars” — a program that is now discontinued — and those who stay a full year are known as “London Scholars.”

Completing part of their degree at NU London offers students a unique experience. Leo Ansari, a second-year political science major from Boston, said the opportunity to spend a year in London was a key reason behind his decision to study at Northeastern.

“I’ve lived in Boston, so I wanted to get out of Boston for a good amount of time, and a year in London sounded perfect,” Ansari said. “I think the way I’d describe the environment here is almost like a summer camp in a lot of ways, where it’s like, you find your people very quickly.” 

Living in London

NU London’s small campus contributes to this “summer camp” environment since it means students are close to each other every time they have class, which Ansari said helps friendships form quickly.

“It’s almost like a melting pot — you really find out who you are by joining this program, and you really find out who you want to hang out with very quickly, because everyone’s very close together,” he said. 

Students who opt to stay in NU London-affiliated housing are assigned a Resident Life Coordinator, or RLC. The RLCs fulfill a similar role to the resident assistants on Northeastern’s Boston campus; they live in the buildings with students and are their point of contact for questions and concerns. 

Ahana Sinha, a third-year business administration and communications studies combined major, said she built a strong relationship with her RLC while in London. 

“I loved her. She was like the nicest person ever,” Sinha said. “We were just talking about … [how] she wants to get her nails done next, where she went out, what are her plans this weekend. It was very much just like talking to a friend, which was nice.”

RLCs are responsible for up to 55 students living in one of four NU London-affiliated buildings. As of the 2024-25 academic year, these buildings were: Chapter Spitalfields, Chapter Aldgate, Yugo The Curve and Scape Shoreditch. These residence halls can change depending on which building provider Northeastern partners with, but the one building that has remained a mainstay is Chapter Spitalfields. 

Located next to Liverpool Street Station, the busiest train station in the U.K., and boasting 34  floors with panoramic views of London, Chapter Spitalfields is one of the most coveted accommodations provided by NU London. 

Ansari, who stayed in Chapter Spitalfields during his year in London, was quick to point out the positives about living in the building but said there were also problems that come along with regular apartment living like maintenance issues. 

“It’s a very generous, very big room,” he said. “You have a lot of space to work with. You get your own privacy. I have a single, and I love it.” 

But, he said, both he and his neighbor got mold in their bathrooms. 

“I just kind of cleaned it out,” he said. “I’m sure hers was a lot worse, and she couldn’t clean it out, so she had to move out.”

Campus life

Devon House, NU London’s main campus, has borne witness to not just the current generation of dual degree-seeking, Global and London Scholars students, but to former NCH students and those in the NUBound program, which was replaced by Global Scholars in 2023.

Nidhi Prakash, a fourth-year public health major, was a part of the NUBound program from September 2022 to April 2023. This was a pivotal point in time for NU London as it was awarded its university title after approval by the U.K.’s Office for Students, or OfS, meaning it could officially change its name from “NCH at Northeastern” to “Northeastern University London.”

One of the key differences between life at NU London and Northeastern’s Boston campus is the size of the student body. Students who attend NU London can get acquainted with their classmates much more quickly due to the smaller size of the campus, Prakash said.

“There was definitely the idea that [you’re] just kind of seeing the same people, because obviously smaller building, smaller school, but I think no one really stayed unless you had class at that moment,” Prakash said, “So being in the building never felt too crowded, because people were always in and out.”

Prakash’s feeling wasn’t universal — as American students flooded the university in 2023, students began to feel the need for more space. 

“I think, with the influx of students … there was definitely a competition over studying spaces and general recreational spaces,” said Angus Parkes, a 2025 NU London alumnus who studied law. 

NU London’s expansion

To deal with the growing number of students, NU London unveiled a second campus in September 2024. Portsoken, a 15-minute walk away from the main campus, added a host of classrooms and private study booths to NU London’s list of facilities. The additional 27,513 square feet mitigates the space issues Parkes mentioned earlier and provides an alternative experience to that of Devon House.

“I think Portsoken was very professional, and it kind of also felt like it was mainly the students … where[as] Devon House feels like a very teacher-centric area,” Ansari said.

The small size of classes is one adjustment students have to make when moving to London from the U.S. or vice versa. 

“The London classes were a lot smaller; I just felt like they were a lot more personal. All of my classes I had, my teacher would talk to us one-on-one,” Sinha said. “In Boston, that happens with some of my classes that are smaller, but I’ve had really big classes where I’m sure the professor doesn’t even know my name.”

Considering the size of the institution, classes at NU London cover a wide range of disciplines but still fall short in comparison to those at Boston in terms of resources needed for STEM subjects.

“My minor is media production, and I want to work in the film industry,” Sinha said. “So obviously NU London doesn’t have all those resources of, like, the studios and those classes. So in that aspect, I like Boston more.” 

This is also the case with STEM-based subjects that require laboratories. NU London does not offer biology, chemistry and engineering degrees to dual degree students, so Global and 

In fall 2025, two additional floors opened in Portsoken, which contain biology, chemistry and physics laboratories. Before this, London Scholars who enrolled in those programs completed their lab classes at London Metropolitan University, a 45-minute commute by public transport from Devon House.

Life away from class

Away from the classroom, London’s world-famous social life is one of the main reasons why many students prefer life in London to Boston.

The Student Union, London’s student government, puts on a range of events for students to explore the city. Some of its most well-attended and liked events are the “pub crawls,” where students go on a guided tour of bars around central London as opposed to traditional pubs.

But the opportunity to leave London’s social life to travel across Europe is an even bigger benefit. 

“[Why I liked] Northeastern’s London offer so much was the fact that I would be able to travel to other countries,” Sinha said. “It also broke up my schoolwork. So, I felt a lot more relaxed trying to manage everything, compared to in Boston, where you’re just at school the whole time basically.”