Northeastern University

What Northeastern University does

Northeastern University is a private, non-profit research university founded in 1898, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operating a 14-campus global university system spanning the U.S., U.K., Canada, Ireland, and India. The institution serves approximately 44,000 students at its Boston campus alone (21,000+ undergraduate and 18,000+ graduate as of Fall 2022) across 10 colleges and schools, 266 interdisciplinary majors, and a record-breaking 105,190 undergraduate applications in the most recent cycle. Its core differentiator is a 115-year-old cooperative education (co-op) program that places undergraduates in full-time, months-long paid work experiences with 3,900+ employer partners including BCG, IBM, Morgan Stanley, ServiceNow, VMware, and iRobot, supported by the NUWorks platform with 25,000+ job postings.

The university's revenue model is a mix of recurring per-semester tuition across undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, online, and lifelong-learning students; $296.3M in annual external research awards (up 508% since 2006) sourced from federal agencies (NTIA, ARPA-H, NSF, DoD, NASA) and state programs (Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative); philanthropy via a historic $1.75B "Experience Powered by Northeastern" fundraising campaign building on the prior $1.4B Empower campaign; and industry partnerships through 2,400+ Experiential Network (XN) project sponsors. Financial aid grants totaled $472M for 2024-2025, indicating significant scholarship subsidization against gross tuition.

Northeastern has built differentiated research infrastructure in AI and wireless communications through the Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems (INSI) and its Open6G OTIC testbed (with $130M in funding over seven years and 30+ industry partners), the Institute for Experiential AI, the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, the Roux Institute, and the Coastal Sustainability Institute. Recent launches include the GENESIS agentic AI framework for 5G/6G RAN automation, a first-of-its-kind open-source Massive MIMO AI-RAN prototype with NVIDIA and AmpliTech, an LTM-powered Autonomous Agentic AI-RAN demonstration at MWC Barcelona 2026 with SoftBank, and a $19M ARPA-H UPGRADE award for healthcare cybersecurity digital twins. The May 2026 acquisition of Marymount Manhattan College added a 14th campus and $215M of Manhattan real estate, while flagship AI partnerships with Anthropic (April 2025) and IBM (London INSI hub) anchor a global research distribution footprint across 14 campuses.

Name

Northeastern University

Legal name

Northeastern University

Website

https://northeastern.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1898

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Northeastern University is a private, non-profit research university founded in 1898, operating 14 global campuses and serving 44,000+ Boston students through a signature co-op program with 3,900+ employer partners and research depth in AI, 5G/6G wireless, and life sciences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Junior Colleges (61121), Educational Support Services (611710), Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Comprehensive Doctoral Research Universities (Multi-Disciplinary) (EDAHABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cooperative Education (Co-op) Technical Universities (EDAHAEAF), STEM-Focused Research Universities (Engineering & Applied Sciences) (EDAHABAB), University-Affiliated Pathway & Foundation Programs (EDAIAJAA), Junior Colleges (Associate-Degree Granting) (EDAHADAC), International Student Academic & Personal Support (case management, referrals) (EDALANAE)

Keywords

• Higher education services
• Experiential learning programs
• Cooperative education programs
• University research services
• Graduate degree programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Tuition and Fees: Recurring per-semester tuition from undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, online, and lifelong-learning students across 14 campuses in the U.S., U.K., and Canada; students do not pay tuition while on co-op.
2. Research Grants and Awards: External research awards from federal agencies (NTIA, ARPA-H, NSF, DoD, NASA), state programs (Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Healey-Driscoll Administration), and private partners — $296.3M in external research awards for 2023–2024.
3. Philanthropy and Fundraising: $1.75 billion 'Experience Powered by Northeastern' fundraising campaign; the Empower campaign previously raised $1.4B in private and government support; over 300,000 alumni plus parents, friends, and philanthropic organizations contribute.
4. Industry and Corporate Partnerships: Revenue from 3,900+ employer partners engaging students through co-op and 2,400+ industry partners participating in Experiential Network (XN) projects; examples include Sun Life U.S. continuing support for the Roux Institute Gap Year Program.
5. Financial Aid and Grants (Outflow): $472M in financial aid grants for 2024–2025 and $437.5M in financial aid for undergraduates and graduates — offsets tuition revenue and reflects significant scholarship commitment (aid flows to students, not revenue).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Northeastern University is a private non-profit research university delivering undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and professional degree programs across 14 campuses in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Its signature offering is a cooperative education (co-op) program that integrates full-time, months-long professional work experiences at 3,900+ employer partners into degree pathways. The university also delivers sponsored research across AI, wireless (5G/6G), life sciences, security, and sustainability, supported by $296.3M in annual external research awards.

Product overview

Northeastern University operates a platform-plus-modules architecture as a global research university system, delivering experiential education across 14 campuses in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. Its core platform is the Co-op (Cooperative Education) program — Northeastern's signature experiential learning offering — supported by academic modules organized into 10 colleges and schools (Khoury College of Computer Sciences, D'Amore-McKim School of Business, College of Engineering, College of Science, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, College of Arts Media and Design, College of Professional Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, School of Law, and Mills College at Northeastern). Specialized sub-products include the BS in Artificial Intelligence and MS in Artificial Intelligence programs, the Graduate Certificate in AI Applications, and the AI for Impact Co-op Program. Research-module products include GENESIS (the agentic AI framework for 5G/6G RAN), the Open6G OTIC Open Testing and Integration Center at the Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems (INSI), the Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, the Institute for Experiential AI, the Institute for Experiential Robotics, the Roux Institute, the Coastal Sustainability Institute, the Mills Institute, and the AI for Impact Co-op Program. The global university system delivers products via Northeastern University London (offering a U.S./U.K. double degree), the N.U.in Program (first-year abroad across 10 locations), and regional campuses including Boston, Oakland, Charlotte, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Arlington, Burlington, Miami, Nahant, Portland, Toronto, and Vancouver. Technology-enabled service products include GrantWell (an AI tool developed with the Massachusetts Federal Funds and Infrastructure Office) and NUWorks (the online job search platform with more than 25,000 postings).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bouvé College of Health Sciences: College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University offering health-related undergraduate and graduate programs
• College of Arts, Media and Design
• College of Engineering
• College of Professional Studies
• College of Science
• College of Social Sciences and Humanities
• D'Amore-McKim School of Business
• Khoury College of Computer Sciences
• Mills College at Northeastern
• School of Law
• Roux Institute
• Mills Institute
• Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security
• Coastal Sustainability Institute
• Institute for Experiential AI
• Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems (INSI)
• Network Science Institute
• Northeastern Huskies
• Burnes Center for Social Change
• Northeastern University's Prison Project

Products and services

• Co-op (Cooperative Education) Program Signature experiential learning program integrating full-time, months-long professional work experiences at 3,800+ employer partners (including BCG, IBM, iRobot, Morgan Stanley, ServiceNow, VMware) into undergraduate and graduate degree paths; 97% of students employed or in grad school within nine months of graduation.
• BS in Artificial Intelligence Undergraduate degree offering rigorous training in machine learning, neural networks, NLP, and AI ethics, grounded in computer science, mathematics, statistics, and probability theory, with over 20 combined majors available.
• MS in Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary graduate program developing advanced skills in designing, developing, and maintaining AI systems with eight industry-aligned concentrations spanning machine learning, robotics, computer vision, and health data, plus optional co-op.
• Graduate Certificate in AI Applications Online certificate equipping professionals without programming experience to leverage AI technologies responsibly, ethically, and effectively, with focus on risk mitigation and human-centered AI implementation.
• N.U.in Program (First-Year Study Abroad) Program sending incoming first-year students to 10 international locations (including Madrid and Prague) for their first semester before continuing at a Northeastern campus.
• Pathmaker Biotechnology Training Program Biotechnology training program preparing people for entry-level jobs in the life sciences industry; has trained 75 students across three earlier cohorts at the Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts.
• Northeastern University London (UK Degree Program) London-based campus offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees including a U.S./U.K. double degree validated by both countries, with world-leading network science research through the Network Science Institute.
• AI for Impact Co-op Program Co-op program placing students in civic AI projects including a generative AI chatbot for MBTA's paratransit service and AI tools for connecting farmers with environmental grants from Massachusetts' Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
• Online Degree and Certificate Programs Online undergraduate, graduate, certificate, micro-credential, and badge courses for remote learners and lifelong learners delivered via online.northeastern.edu.

Quantifiable outcome

• 97% of undergraduates employed or in grad school within 9 months of graduation
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers34 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability29 records

Feature15 records

Partnerships

35 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Bank on BostonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 June 2026Boston financial study led by Bank on Boston in partnership with Northeastern University and Harvard Business School, giving 15 young workers up to $1,000 each to invest in a Roth IRA and tracking financial behavior over time.
• Harvard Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 June 2026Co-research partner on Boston Bank on Boston financial study, tracking Roth IRA grants and financial behavior of young workers in summer youth employment.
• Tel Aviv UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 May 2026Co-partner of the 50:50 Startups accelerator program (founded 2019), pairing Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs in mixed teams for a six-month business bootcamp culminating in pitches to Boston investors.
• NVIDIAflagshipTechnology or Integration · 20 May 2026Collaboration on the world's first open-source massive MIMO AI-RAN prototype integrating NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated AI Aerial platform with AmpliTech hardware and OpenAirInterface software; jointly demonstrated at Open6G OTIC testbed.
• Marymount Manhattan CollegeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2026Merger/acquisition finalized making Marymount Manhattan the 14th Northeastern campus; deal added $215M of prime Manhattan real estate (five buildings on the Upper East Side) and resulted in a $202.7M net gain after $47M investments and $68.3M liabilities absorbed.
• University of VictoriaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026Signed Memorandum of Understanding on May 6, 2026 establishing a joint applied AI innovation alliance to train AI talent, develop courses, conduct research, and build applied AI capacity in British Columbia and the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. Includes cross-listed courses, shared faculty appointments, co-supervised students, and the CascadAI Impact Network.
• AWScoreTechnology or Integration · 6 May 2026Industry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launched in Summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for British Columbia communities.
• SeaspanminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 May 2026Industry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launching in summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for BC communities.
• FortisminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 6 May 2026Industry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launching in summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for BC communities.
• NASA Glenn Research CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 April 2026Joint research with Northeastern on sedimentation-stable composite PCM capsules for lithium-ion battery thermal management, fabricated via 3D printing.
• Sun Life U.S.coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 31 March 2026Continued sponsorship of the Roux Institute's Pre-Clinical Healthcare Gap Year Program in Maine honoring recently retired company president Dan Fishbein, M.D.; over 80 healthcare professionals placed to improve access to care in rural and underserved areas.
• Massachusetts Federal Funds and Infrastructure OfficeflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 March 2026Co-developed GrantWell, an AI-powered tool that helps municipal governments find and apply for grant funding by summarizing requirements and generating draft project narratives.
• SoftBank Corp.flagshipTechnology or Integration · 26 February 2026Co-demonstrated LTM-powered Autonomous Agentic AI-RAN at MWC Barcelona 2026, showcasing a system that converts operator intents into autonomous network configurations for 5G and 6G networks using SoftBank's Large Telecom Model.
• Keysight TechnologiescoreTechnology or Integration · 26 February 2026Co-demonstrated Autonomous Agentic AI-RAN at MWC Barcelona 2026 with SoftBank and zTouch Networks, leveraging Keysight's high-fidelity training data and real-time adaptability for AI agents.
• zTouch NetworkscoreTechnology or Integration · 26 February 2026Co-demonstrated Autonomous Agentic AI-RAN at MWC Barcelona 2026, contributing to a hierarchy of AI agents powered by SoftBank's Large Telecom Model.
• AmpliTech GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2026Co-developed the first open-source massive MIMO O-RAN system with Category B fronthaul, integrating AmpliTech's 64T64R radio with OpenAirInterface's CU/DU stack; multi-vendor interoperability validated across 9 labs worldwide.
• Rocket Alumni SolutionsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 February 2026Partnership offering digital alumni engagement platforms that preserve and celebrate alumni athletic achievements at Northeastern.
• EridancoreTechnology or Integration · 18 February 2026Provided commercially deployable, FCC-certified radios used in Northeastern's distributed MIMO (dMIMO) demonstration, validating scalable real-world dMIMO deployment without custom lab-grade hardware.
• IBMflagshipTechnology or Integration · 25 January 2026Collaborator with Northeastern's London INSI hub on next-generation AI hardware and AI reliability research.
• MITflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2026Co-researcher on MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design (with Google, Stability AI); and on 'Agents of Chaos' AI agent security study.
• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2026Collaborator with MIT, Northeastern, and Stability AI on the MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design.
• Stability AIminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2026Collaborator with MIT, Northeastern, and Google on the MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design.
• MetacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) led by Ohio State, Northeastern, Baylor, and Rutgers with NSF funding; addresses homogenization bias in AI decision-making and supports 30 Ph.D. researchers.
• NationwideminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
• Honda ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
• CiscominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
• Worthington SteelminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
• Bread FinancialminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Industry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
• U.S. ArmycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 November 2025Joint development of a 3D-printable nanocomposite of hexagonal boron nitride in a thermoplastic polymer for thermal management in advanced military electronics; approximately 40% less dense than aluminum and 80% less dense than copper.
• Chartwells Higher EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 November 2025Five-year strategic collaboration agreement effective June 5, 2025 to promote innovation and experiential learning in food service and hospitality; focuses on technology innovation, food safety, sustainability, and professional development. Builds on a longstanding relationship since 1974.
• CaltechminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2025Collaboration with Caltech, TII, and Northeastern University on the X1 robot-drone hybrid for emergency response, capable of walking, driving, and flying.
• U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 October 2025Kostas Research Institute at Northeastern is one of five teams awarded contracts under the Pentagon's Advanced Spectrum Coexistence (ASC) initiative; coordinates efforts with 26 U.S.-based partners including 21 small, nonprofit, or non-traditional defense contractors to demonstrate dynamic spectrum sharing.
• Harvard UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 May 2025Co-research collaboration on the 'Agents of Chaos' AI agent security study, alongside MIT, Stanford, and the University of British Columbia.
• AnthropicflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 April 2025Northeastern is one of the first higher-education partners of Anthropic, integrating AI across the global community of students, faculty, and staff in ways that are responsible, ethical, and grounded in how people learn and work. The collaboration shapes how AI adoption looks in a university setting at the scale of a global network.
• Brain.fmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 January 2025Research collaboration with Northeastern's MIND Lab, partially funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, that produced a peer-reviewed study in Nature's Communications Biology validating Brain.fm's purpose-built focus music for individuals with ADHD.

Scale indicators23 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Boston University: Boston-based private research university with comparable scale (large undergraduate and graduate populations), similar research breadth across colleges, and overlapping employer partner network in Greater Boston. Closely comparable on experiential learning, urban research footprint, and global satellite campuses.
• Drexel University: Philadelphia-based private research university that pioneered cooperative education in the U.S. and runs the most direct analog to Northeastern's signature co-op program. Most comparable peer on experiential learning model and employer partnership depth.
• Tufts University: Greater Boston private research university with similar scale, research portfolio, and graduate/professional school mix (including engineering, computer science, and life sciences). Comparable on applied research and selective admissions positioning.
• Carnegie Mellon University: Private research university with strong computer science, AI, and robotics programs that overlap directly with Northeastern's Khoury College, Institute for Experiential AI, and Institute for Experiential Robotics. Comparable on research intensity and industry-funded AI work.
• Georgia Institute of Technology: Public research university with leading computer science, electrical engineering, and wireless/AI-RAN research — directly comparable to Northeastern's Open6G OTIC and INSI capabilities. Comparable on federal research portfolio (NSF, DoD) and ARPA-H/ARPA-style programs.
• Purdue University: Public research university with leading engineering, computer science, and semiconductor/wireless research programs. Comparable scale of STEM research output and federal research funding, with overlapping wireless/AI-RAN initiatives.
• University of Southern California: Large private research university with global satellite campus presence, leading AI and wireless research programs (USC ISI is a 6G testbed), and comparable scale of industry and government research funding. Directly comparable on multi-campus model and AI/wireless research positioning.
• New York University: Private research university with global campus network (NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU Shanghai) that mirrors Northeastern's 14-campus international footprint. Comparable scale, employer network, and graduate professional school mix including law.

Broad incumbents

• Stanford University: Top-tier private research university with overlapping AI, wireless, and entrepreneurship programs; collaborator with Northeastern on 'Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring' and Agents of Chaos research. Larger endowment scale but comparable on cutting-edge research output and Silicon Valley employer ties.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Boston-based research university collaborating with Northeastern on multiple research initiatives (MechStyle with Google, Agents of Chaos, X1 robot-drone hybrid with Caltech). Strong overlap in AI/robotics research and federal funding relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Northeastern
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/Northeastern
• Facebookfacebook.com/northeastern
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northeastern-university
• Instagraminstagram.com/northeastern
• TikToktiktok.com/@northeasternu

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles20 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds22 records

Investors14 records

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M&A1 record

Investments6 records

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Frequently asked questions about Northeastern University