Northeastern University’s acceptance rate rose for the Class of 2030. This past cycle, the Boston-based university admitted 6.2% of applicants, a 0.6% increase from the Class of 2029’s 5.6%.
This year, Northeastern received a record-breaking 105,190 applications, marking the seventh consecutive year that undergraduate applications to Northeastern have increased. However, the increase for the incoming class was very marginal—only 98 more than last year’s 105,092 apps. This increase is lower than in previous years, such as from the 2024-25 to 2025-26 academic year, when Northeastern experienced an increase in applicants by over 10,000, according to the Huntington News.
The 6.2% acceptance rate represents admission only to Northeastern’s flagship Boston campus for the fall semester, and does not include any of Northeastern’s alternative first-year admissions programs such as N.U.in, NYC Scholars, and London Scholars.
Acceptance rates over the years
Class Year Northeastern Acceptance Rate
2030 6.20%
2029 5.60%
2028 5.20%
2027 5.60%
As you can see, the acceptance rate has remained relatively steady over the last few cycles. The Class of 2028 saw a record-low 5.2%, but even the increase to 6.2% is still quite selective compared to Northeastern’s admit rate from less than 10 years ago. Northeastern University’s acceptance rate for the fall 2020 undergraduate admissions cycle, for example, was 28.48%, while the fall 2021 admit rate was 28.88%..
Increase in applications
A large factor in Northeastern’s declining admit rate is that the school has been receiving record-high numbers of applications every year. One of the reasons behind this, in turn, is that Northeastern doesn’t require supplemental essays. Take a look at the table below:
Class Year Number of Applications to Northeastern
2030 105,190
2029 105,092
2028 98,425
2027 96,631
2026 91,000
Does applying ED provide an advantage?
Since 2015, the number of early decision applicants has grown by 660%, according to Northeastern Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning Ken Henderson’s annual report.
Take a look at recent Early Decision numbers for Northeastern below:
Class Year Northeastern ED Acceptance Rate
2029 35.30%
2028 43.00%
2027 38.70%
2026 33.00%
Northeastern usually releases its ED acceptance rate as part of its Common Data Set, so the Class of 2030 ED acceptance rate is still unreleased. However, we can see from this data compared to the overall acceptance numbers that applying ED provides a significant advantage to students.
Students admitted ED also receive financial advantages—Northeastern says on its admissions website that ED applicants receive “exclusive review for needs-based financial aid” and access to the NU Accelerate Scholarship, which includes two asynchronous Northeastern courses at no cost prior to matriculation at Northeastern.
If you’re choosing between two ED schools, and Northeastern is your second choice, you can also apply to the school via the ED2 route if you’re not admitted to your ED1 choice. This cycle, ED2 applications for Northeastern are due on January 1, 2027, and students will hear back by mid-February—much earlier than many RD decision dates.
If you’re interested in Northeastern and want to apply early, but not through a binding route you can also apply to the school via Early Action. This non-binding application has a deadline of November 1 and a decision notification date of February 15 at the latest.
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