NU admits students to Oakland campus for entire undergrad degree, sparking confusion

By Emily Spatz News Correspondent

As prospective students began to receive their admission decisions from Northeastern, many Early Decision applicants were confused when they received an unexpected admission offer to the school’s newest Oakland location. Admitted students flocked to Reddit to find answers.

“I was accepted to NEU Oakland today EA and I’m a bit confused,” one Reddit user, u/Helpful_Bee_9591, posted. “First off I didn’t apply for this program, so not really sure how I got in. Secondly.. I don’t know what program I’m in. Am I spending a semester in Oakland? A year? My entire undergraduate degree?”

The campus, which was acquired through Northeastern’s

CITY

Black patriots highlighted in Freedom Trail tours controversial merger with Mills College in June 2022, welcomed its first cohort of students in the fall 2022 semester through temporary study-abroad programs N.U.in and Global Scholars (formerly NU Bound).

Learn about how guides narrate the untold stories of AfricanAmerican revolutionaries in special February tours.

Now, the university is accepting students to the Oakland campus for their entire undergraduate degrees in addition to the semester or year-long programs offered in the past, according to the university.

According to a statement by university spokesperson Marirose Sartoretto, Oakland campus admission was offered to students who “were academically qualified and showed qualities to succeed, but for whom we didn’t have any additional spots for in Boston.”

“While not every student selected Oakland or London campuses as their first choice of location, we wanted to offer some of our strong pool of qualified applicants the opportunity to join Northeastern University in lieu of a denial,” the statement read.

This year, the university received more than 96,000 applications for the fall 2023 semester, while only 2,600 spots were available.

This comes as the university faces increasing scrutiny about the shortage of housing on the Boston campus, as well as their decision to send students to alternate locations without their expressed interest.

Jeta Perjuci, a first-year media and screen studies and journalism combined major who was part of the inaugural N.U.in Oakland class, said she understands why the university is accepting people to alternate locations but expressed discontent with the decision.

SPORTS Huskies clinch 19th-straight win over Merrimack

Read about graduate student captain Alina Müller tying Kendall Coyne-Schofield’s all-time points record at 249.

“It feels unfair when you’re told you got accepted to Northeastern, except it’s being taught by Mills College professors, you’re in class with other Mills students and not on the Boston campus,” Perjuci said. “I know I didn’t apply for a study abroad program and still got admitted for N.U.in, so I can’t imagine what it would be like for four years when that’s not what you expected when applying.”

Despite the differences in course offerings and location, students in Oakland will be paying the same tuition as students on the Boston campus.

According to the program’s website, the tuition for Northeastern University Oakland for the 2023-24 year is estimated at $81,472

Kyle Kucera, a first-year journalism major who also spent his last semester in Oakland, said that while he enjoyed the campus itself, it felt isolated from the rest of the city and the experiences it offered.

He said he feels that his classes in Boston are much more academically rigorous.

“As far as tuition goes, I don’t think it’s fair to have almost the same amount for each campus, especially because I didn’t choose to be at a satellite campus, and I was missing out on some opportunities at the Boston campus while I was in Oakland,” Kucera said.

The Oakland campus will offer four majors — biology, business administration, computer science and health science. It will also offer a Discover Oakland program for undeclared students, along with 10 combined majors.

MILLS COLLEGE, on Page 2

MULTIMEDIA

57 Questions Video Interview Series

Check out our video series to learn from NU club presidents.

9