Northeastern’s Boston campus enrollment increased by 1.8% — 760 students — between 2023 and 2024, according to the City of Boston’s 2024 Student Housing Trends Report. The growth means enrollment on the Boston campus now totals 43,904, intensifying pressure on Boston’s housing market and reinforcing student concerns about on-campus overcrowding.

Since 2013, the student population at Northeastern has increased by 66.1%, or 17,467 students, leading total enrollment growth across all Boston colleges and universities, according to the 2024 Student Housing Trends Report, or the report. 

Total enrollment across all Boston higher education institutions rose by 17,666 students, or 12.2%, between 2013 and 2024, according to the report. Northeastern’s enrollment increase accounts for about 98.8% of that, according to an analysis by The Huntington News.

“We are fully aware of the report and its data – much of which is inaccurate. The data constraints are clearly stated in the Appendix (page 31):  ‘…data quality, particularly of earlier reports, has created comparability issues that complicate analysis of trends over time…’ The report is based on data that, beyond having significant limitations, includes [College of Professional Studies] students, grad students, part-time students—a population that typically does not live on campus and spends significantly less time on campus,” a Northeastern spokesperson wrote in an email to The Huntington News. 

Students say specific campus spaces, like Marino Recreation Center and Snell Library, are overcrowded. Xinmeng Wang, a fourth-year mathematics and business administration combined major, said she struggles to find a table at Snell Library. 

“I find it extremely hard to find seats during the day before 6 p.m.,” Wang said. “It has become more crowded since Snell was redesigned, which was during my second and third year. During my freshman year, it had more space, but now the space is not used as efficiently as it was before.”

Shivangi Mishra, a graduate student studying project management, expressed similar concerns about Marino Recreation Center.

“I’m a frequent at Marino. I work out every day there, and it gets really crowded,” Mishra said. “Some small examples are the Smith machine and hip thrust machine, because the entire gym has just one of each. For those, you can easily end up waiting 20 or more minutes.”

The total enrollment increase across Boston higher education institutions is largely attributed to a spike in graduate enrollment, which has risen by 25.7% since 2013, while undergraduate enrollment has grown by just 4.7%, according to the report. 

While undergraduate enrollment across Boston has steadily increased since 2020, graduate enrollment peaked in 2023 but declined by 2.4% between 2023 and 2024. At Northeastern, undergraduate enrollment has risen by roughly 31.9%, or 5,714 students, and graduate enrollment increased by more than 138.1%, or 11,753 students, since 2013. 

The university only guarantees on-campus housing for the first two years of a student’s undergraduate degree. Over the past several years, the university has housed students in university-affiliated off-campus accommodations, including the Midtown Hotel and 60 Belvidere St., to meet housing demand.

Housing capacity was further reduced following the closure of White Hall in 2023, as well as the decision to stop using the Midtown Hotel as student housing in 2025. To remedy this issue, Northeastern is currently constructing two on-campus residence halls.  

In June 2024, Northeastern released its Institutional Master Plan, or IMP, for the next decade. White Hall will be replaced with a 332,500-square-foot, 230-foot-tall residence hall that would add 1,000 beds, according to the IMP. 

Additionally, Northeastern received approval from the Boston Planning and Development Agency in March 2024 to build a 23-story, 1,370-bed residence hall at 840 Columbus Ave., which is currently a parking lot. With these buildings, the IMP says Northeastern will add around 2,360 new beds over the next 10 years. 

According to the report, Northeastern housed 44.1% of full-time undergraduates on campus or in university-managed housing as of fall 2024, which is a smaller proportion than both Boston College — 77.1% — and Boston University — 65.2%. 

The report found Northeastern has 6,183 undergraduate students living off campus, the most of any higher education institution in Boston, as well as the largest number of graduate students living in private housing at 7,133 students. 

“Between 2014 and 2024, universities added 7,751 dorm beds and removed 1,196 beds, resulting in a net gain of 6,555 beds, a 17 percent increase,” the report reads.“While some dormitory production is underway at Northeastern and Simmons, this growth in dorm beds is not keeping pace with the demand, with the city still facing a housing gap of 24,255 dorm beds to accommodate all full-time undergraduate students.” 

Northeastern alone accounts for nearly one-third of that need, the largest of any institution included in the report.

Paul Mullin, a third-year biochemistry major, noticed the increased population on campus during passing periods in between classes.

“We’re all just trying to get where we’re going, and it doesn’t make it any easier that there’s a lot of people doing that,” Mullin said. “It might make it harder to enjoy the 10-minute break that I’m going to have in between classes because now I may be worried that I need to get to class on time.”

Graduate students further intensify the housing demand in Boston. According to the city’s report, only about 10% of graduate students across the city are housed by their institutions. 

This significantly affects Boston’s private housing supply. Students occupy more than 17,000 private residential properties citywide, many of which are two-family, three-family or condominium properties originally intended for families and long-term residents, according to the report.

“Students, therefore, reduce the housing stock available for Boston’s workforce and families, and drive up rental costs due to increased competition and, in some cases, greater resources,” the report reads.

The neighborhoods most affected include Fenway-Kenmore, Allston, Longwood Medical Area and Mission Hill, all of which are close to Northeastern’s campus. In total, 61% of university students living off campus reside within these zip codes, according to the report.

In November 2025, the Boston Planning and Development Agency approved Northeastern’s plan to add 2,226 new dorm beds. Even with these additions, the university is projected to need more than 7,424 additional beds. 

City officials say IMP renewals offer an opportunity for increased on-campus housing. Until then, the report suggests enrollment growth without proportional housing development will continue to strain the Boston campus as well as the surrounding community.