Northeastern University
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1898
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
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.
Northeastern University firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Northeastern University industry classification
Industry- 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
Where Northeastern University is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Northeastern University business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, online, and law tuition by program — not publicly itemized in source materials |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Co-op hourly compensation for students |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
Northeastern University product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Northeastern University
Customer profileNamed customers34 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Northeastern University technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability29 records
Feature15 records
Northeastern University partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
35 partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.
- Bank on BostonminorBoston 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 SchoolcoreCo-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 UniversitycoreCo-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.
- NVIDIAflagshipCollaboration 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 CollegeflagshipMerger/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 VictoriaflagshipSigned 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.
- AWScoreIndustry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launched in Summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for British Columbia communities.
- SeaspanminorIndustry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launching in summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for BC communities.
- FortisminorIndustry and community partner in the CascadAI Impact Network launching in summer 2026, focusing on applied AI projects for BC communities.
- NASA Glenn Research CentercoreJoint research with Northeastern on sedimentation-stable composite PCM capsules for lithium-ion battery thermal management, fabricated via 3D printing.
- Sun Life U.S.coreContinued 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 OfficeflagshipCo-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.flagshipCo-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 TechnologiescoreCo-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 NetworkscoreCo-demonstrated Autonomous Agentic AI-RAN at MWC Barcelona 2026, contributing to a hierarchy of AI agents powered by SoftBank's Large Telecom Model.
- AmpliTech GroupflagshipCo-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 SolutionsminorPartnership offering digital alumni engagement platforms that preserve and celebrate alumni athletic achievements at Northeastern.
- EridancoreProvided commercially deployable, FCC-certified radios used in Northeastern's distributed MIMO (dMIMO) demonstration, validating scalable real-world dMIMO deployment without custom lab-grade hardware.
- IBMflagshipCollaborator with Northeastern's London INSI hub on next-generation AI hardware and AI reliability research.
- MITflagshipCo-researcher on MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design (with Google, Stability AI); and on 'Agents of Chaos' AI agent security study.
- GooglecoreCollaborator with MIT, Northeastern, and Stability AI on the MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design.
- Stability AIminorCollaborator with MIT, Northeastern, and Google on the MechStyle generative AI system for structurally sound 3D design.
- MetacoreIndustry 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.
- NationwideminorIndustry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
- Honda ResearchminorIndustry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
- CiscominorIndustry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
- Worthington SteelminorIndustry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
- Bread FinancialminorIndustry coalition member of CRAIG (Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance) with NSF funding.
- U.S. ArmycoreJoint 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 EducationcoreFive-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.
- CaltechminorCollaboration 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)flagshipKostas 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 UniversityflagshipCo-research collaboration on the 'Agents of Chaos' AI agent security study, alongside MIT, Stanford, and the University of British Columbia.
- AnthropicflagshipNortheastern 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.fmcoreResearch 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
Northeastern University competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect 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
Northeastern University social profiles
Digital presenceNortheastern University compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Northeastern University financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Northeastern University leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles20 records
Northeastern University subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
Northeastern University funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds22 records
Investors14 records
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Northeastern University M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments6 records
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Frequently asked questions about Northeastern University
What does Northeastern University do?
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.
Is Northeastern University a public or private company?
Northeastern University is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Northeastern University founded?
Northeastern University was founded in 1898. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is Northeastern University based?
Northeastern University is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Northeastern University make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Tuition and Fees are the primary driver. The others are research Grants and Awards, philanthropy and Fundraising, industry and Corporate Partnerships and financial Aid and Grants (Outflow).
Who are Northeastern University's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Boston University, Drexel University, Tufts University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of Southern California and New York University. Broad incumbents are Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Does Northeastern University have an API?
No public API is recorded for Northeastern University.
What industry is Northeastern University in?
Northeastern University's product category is Higher Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHABAA, Comprehensive Doctoral Research Universities (Multi-Disciplinary), with a secondary code of EDAHAEAF, Cooperative Education (Co-op) Technical Universities. Its NAICS code is 6113 and its SIC code is 8200.