Northeastern’s acquisition of Marymount Manhattan College, originally announced in May 2024, is set to be finalized by the summer.
The New York State Department of Education approved the acquisition last May, and Northeastern expects to receive approval from the federal Department of Education no later than June 30, a Northeastern spokesperson told Bloomberg News, concluding the two-year process of converting Marymount Manhattan College to Northeastern University – New York City.
Marymount Manhattan College, or MMC, is a liberal arts college located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Founded in 1936, MMC is known for its performing arts program and has a student body of around 1,700.
Northeastern sent its first cohort of New York City Scholars students in fall 2025. Until the plan receives authorization from the federal Department of Education, MMC operates as its own entity and not yet as Northeastern University – New York City.
The merging process is time-consuming. The Department of Education conducts an in-depth investigation into the finances of institutions, both to ensure that Title IV funding — the part of the 1965 Higher Education Act that establishes student aid programs and loans — is manageable, experts said in an interview with Bloomberg Federal approval can take at least one year.
In May 2024, Northeastern first announced the acquisition of MMC, and the leadership of both institutions were still waiting for state and federal approval. In April 2025, MMC announced that the Middle States Commission on Higher Education approved the merging request. The university did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the timeline of the merger.
By the end of May 2025, the New York State Education Department authorized the plan for the merger.
In July 2024, the Department of Education released financial regulations for universities acquiring other institutions to ensure that they are financially and administratively adequate for the acquisition, allowing Northeastern to finish its merging process.
While President Donald Trump initiated massive layoffs at the Department of Education, Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in March that the administration is interested in “easing regulatory requirements” for institutions interested in merging. (The Department of Education did not respond to several requests for comment.)
Despite Northeastern’s financial eligibility and experience in campus expansion, experts told Bloomberg that it is unclear why the process of acquiring MMC took two years.
With 59% of MMC’s 2024 graduates being visual and performing arts majors, according to U.S. News & World Report, many students are anxious about whether Northeastern will scrub the institution of its artistic roots. But like many small liberal arts colleges, it struggled with declining enrollment.
Correction: This article was updated June 3 at 9:00 p.m. to attribute the reporting correctly; Bloomberg reported the story, not The Boston Globe. Moreover, it misidentified Nicholas Kent; he is the under secretary of education, not the secretary of education. Finally, it was updated to include additional information about The News’ attempts to contact the Department of Education.
