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Northeastern University Professional Programs

Boston, MA · official site ↗

Private nonprofitDoctoral/Professional UniversityMedium
62
Fin. Resilience
Resilience score

vs. 140 peers in its group

Northeastern University Professional Programs is a private nonprofit institution in Boston, MA, classified by Carnegie as “Doctoral/Professional University.”

It enrolls about 1,802 undergraduates and is benchmarked here against 140 peer institutions (Doctoral/Professional University · Private nonprofit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 62 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is median earnings (10 yr) ($92,538, 99th percentile).

Its weakest is full-time faculty share (13.3%).

Peer group

Doctoral/Professional University · Private nonprofit

140 institutions

No cross-metric risk flags triggered.
Policy & demographic exposure

How exposed Northeastern University Professional Programs is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax and Grad PLUS elimination and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.

Grad PLUS exposureShare of the school's graduate federal loan dollars that came from Grad PLUS, the program the 2025 budget law eliminates for new borrowers from July 2026 (FSA Direct Loan data). Higher = more graduate borrowing that will disappear above the new caps.
43.1%
High exposure
Higher than 80% of schools nationally
AY2025-26 YTD (through Q2, Dec 2025)
Avg Grad PLUS loanAverage Grad PLUS loan per borrower (FSA). The 2025 law caps unsubsidized grad borrowing at $20,500/yr and ends Grad PLUS — this is the average per-student amount that vanishes above the cap. The depth half of the Grad PLUS shock; pair with Grad PLUS exposure (the reliance share).
$35,361
Above the cap
Higher than 87% of schools nationally
AY2025-26 YTD (through Q2, Dec 2025)
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
-9.7%
Moderate decline

Indicative signals, not forecasts — see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax and Grad PLUS figures appear only where the institution is actually exposed; “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.

Turn these signals into action

Seeing exposure is step one. Ibex builds AI agents that monitor and act on exactly these pressures — explore an interactive demo. Live demos run real workflows; the rest are working mockups we build to your institution’s data.

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Financial Health Index
4.1
on a −4 to 10 scale
Financial Health IndexStable

NACUBO Composite Financial Index — the balance-sheet health score accreditors and institutional boards use to gauge financial health; bond-rating agencies track similar ratios. reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University (excluded from rankings and peer percentiles).

Primary reserve 35%8.3 mo
Reserves vs. debt 35%1.04×
Return on net assets 20%7.8%
Operating result 10%7.9%

Composite of four ratios on a strength-factor scale (−4 weak → 10 strong): below 3 falls short of the threshold for financial health, below 1 signals acute stress, and above 6 is strong. Computed from IPEDS FY2022-23, the most recent finance release (it lags the current year by 2–3 years). Branch campuses that report finances at a parent/system level can show distorted ratios. For informational benchmarking, not a credit rating or financial advice.

Revenue composition
Where the money comes from $2.22B total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University.

Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 66% of revenue.

Tuition & fees65.7%
Government grants & contracts11.0%
Auxiliary enterprises8.6%
Investment return6.1%
Private gifts & grants4.3%
Other revenue4.3%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Financial Health
Net tuition revenue / FTETuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student after institutional aid/discounts — what tuition actually nets.
Strong
$20,990
74th percentile in peer grouppeer median $17,944
Instructional spend / FTESpending on instruction per FTE student — how much of the budget reaches the classroom.
Below peers
$9,313
32nd percentile in peer grouppeer median $11,374
Endowment (end of year)Total endowment value at year end — long-term invested wealth that funds operations and cushions shocks.
Strong
$141.4M
67th percentile in peer grouppeer median $80.3M
Avg monthly faculty salaryAverage monthly salary of full-time faculty (IPEDS) — a proxy for faculty investment.
Strong
$9,649
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median $8,331
Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.
Endowment per undergradEndowment divided by undergraduate headcount — endowment wealth behind each undergrad.
Strong
$78,443
80th percentile in peer grouppeer median $44,741
Endowment per FTE studentEndowment per full-time-equivalent student — the FTE-correct measure of endowment wealth per student.
Average
$23,618
44th percentile in peer grouppeer median $25,289
End-of-year endowment ÷ 12-month FTE enrollment — endowment wealth per full-time-equivalent student. The FTE-correct companion to endowment-per-undergraduate; FTE counts graduate and part-time load, so research universities look less wealthy on this basis than on a headcount basis.
Grad PLUS exposureShare of the school's graduate federal loan dollars that came from Grad PLUS, the program the 2025 budget law eliminates for new borrowers from July 2026 (FSA Direct Loan data). Higher = more graduate borrowing that will disappear above the new caps.
High exposure
43.1%
— percentile in peer group
Share of the institution's graduate federal loan dollars (Grad Unsubsidized + Grad PLUS) that came from Grad PLUS — the program the 2025 budget law eliminates for new borrowers from July 1, 2026, alongside new caps on graduate borrowing. A higher share means more of the school's graduate students rely on borrowing that will no longer exist above the unsubsidized cap. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education / Federal Student Aid Direct Loan Dashboard — primarily award year 2025-26 (year-to-date through Q2, December 2025), the most current federal data; schools not yet reporting Grad PLUS in 2025-26 retain their most recent complete year (2024-25), shown per school. The reliance share is stable across the two vintages. Shown only for schools with Grad PLUS originations; an exposure signal, not a forecast of revenue loss.
Avg Grad PLUS loanAverage Grad PLUS loan per borrower (FSA). The 2025 law caps unsubsidized grad borrowing at $20,500/yr and ends Grad PLUS — this is the average per-student amount that vanishes above the cap. The depth half of the Grad PLUS shock; pair with Grad PLUS exposure (the reliance share).
Above the cap
$35,361
— percentile in peer group
Average Grad PLUS loan per recipient (FSA Direct Loan Dashboard — award year 2025-26 year-to-date through Q2, with 2024-25 full-year retained where 2025-26 is not yet reported). The 2025 budget law eliminates Grad PLUS for new borrowers from July 1, 2026 and caps unsubsidized graduate borrowing at $20,500/year — so this is the average per-borrower amount that will no longer be available above that cap. Paired with Grad PLUS exposure (the institution's reliance share), it is the depth axis of the Grad PLUS shock: how much each affected borrower stands to lose. Shown only where Grad PLUS was originated.
Operating marginNet surplus as a share of total revenue — whether the institution runs in the black.
Strong
11.9%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Tuition dependencyTuition's share of total revenue — how exposed the budget is to enrollment swings.
65.7%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Tuition discount rateInstitutional grant aid as a share of gross tuition (IPEDS, private nonprofits only) — the tuition-discount rate. The share of sticker tuition handed back as aid; a high rate (the national average is ~56%) signals heavy price competition for students.
Moderate
25.8%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
State appropriations shareState appropriations' share of total revenue — material for public institutions, near zero for private.
0%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Administrative cost shareInstitutional support (central administration, governance, general administration, fundraising, and under FASB the operation & maintenance of plant) as a share of total expenses — private nonprofit (FASB) institutions only, where the figure is comparable. An informational gauge of administrative intensity, not a measure of waste.
15.8%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Months of operating cushionMonths of operating expenses covered by expendable reserves — the institution's cash cushion.
Strong
8.3 mo
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Reserves vs. debtExpendable reserves divided by long-term debt — whether reserves could cover the debt.
Adequate
1.04×
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Return on net assetsChange in net assets over the year — whether the institution grew wealthier.
Strong
7.8%
Parent/system level
Reported at parent/system level — reflects Northeastern University. Excluded from rankings and peer percentiles.
Graduation & completion
Graduation rate · first-time, full-time
—

Not reported — this institution has no first-time, full-time bachelor's-degree cohort, so the graduation rate does not apply. See the all-students completion rate.

Completion rate · all students
63.7%

63.7% earned a degree or certificate within 8 years (IPEDS Outcome Measures)
The broader cohort — also counts part-time entrants and transfer-ins, and any credential. More inclusive, so it can run higher than the graduation rate.

Why two numbers? They measure different students over different windows, so they are not directly comparable. The graduation rate is the standard federal headline but tracks only first-time, full-time students through a bachelor's; the all-students completion rate adds the part-time and transfer students it leaves out, over a longer window. Read each for what it covers. Source: U.S. Department of Education — IPEDS Graduation Rates & Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard.

Enrollment & Pipeline
Undergraduate enrollmentNumber of degree-seeking undergraduates (IPEDS fall headcount). A size measure, not a quality signal.
1,802
40th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2,213
Pell recipient shareShare of undergraduates on a federal Pell Grant — a proxy for the share from lower-income families.
11%
3rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 30.6%
Program concentration (HHI)How concentrated a school's annual completions are across academic fields, as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (10,000 = one field, lower = many). Higher means more reliance on a few fields; lower means a diversified program portfolio.
Moderately concentrated
1,806
— percentile in peer group
How concentrated the institution's degree and certificate output is across academic fields (CIP 2-digit families), as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index on the latest year's completions: 10,000 means every completion is in one field; lower means output is spread across many. A higher value means the school leans on fewer fields and is more exposed to demand shifts in them; a lower value reflects a broad program portfolio. Shown for institutions reporting at least 100 annual completions. A structural-diversification signal, not a measure of quality.
12-month FTE enrollmentFull-time-equivalent enrollment over the full year — the denominator for per-student finance measures.
5,985
78th percentile in peer grouppeer median 3,470
Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2022-23). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.
Student-faculty ratioStudents per instructional faculty member — lower usually means smaller classes and more contact.
14:1
77th percentile in peer grouppeer median 12:1
Students per instructional faculty member (IPEDS, fall 2023). Lower generally means smaller classes and more faculty contact, though the measure mixes undergraduate and graduate teaching and is institution-reported.
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
Moderate decline
-9.7%
— percentile in peer group
Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age; the U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment.
Completion rate (all students · 8-yr)Of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — the share who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures). Broader than the graduation rate, which counts only first-time, full-time students, so the two are measured on different students and are not directly comparable.
Average
63.7%
54th percentile in peer grouppeer median 62.8%
Share of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard). Broader and more inclusive than the graduation-rate figures, which count only first-time, full-time students entering a bachelor's program — so the two are measured on different groups of students and are not directly comparable.
Student body
Undergraduate race & ethnicity IPEDS 2024-25
White36.4%
International13.7%
Unknown12.7%
Black12.7%
Hispanic/Latino12.5%
Asian7.7%
Two or more races4.2%
American Indian/Alaska Native0.1%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander0.1%

Undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity, as reported to IPEDS (College Scorecard). “International” denotes nonresident students; “Unknown” means race/ethnicity was not reported.

Student Outcomes & Risk
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).
Strong
$92,538
99th percentile in peer grouppeer median $57,106
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.
Average
$24,250
54th percentile in peer grouppeer median $24,234
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.
Strong
2.2%
12th percentile in peer grouppeer median 4.8%
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort — the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Share taking federal loansShare of students taking out federal loans — a borrowing-reliance signal.
21.6%
4th percentile in peer grouppeer median 48.9%
Full-time faculty shareShare of faculty employed full-time — higher generally means more availability and continuity.
Below peers
13.3%
2nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 55.1%
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings — how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.
Strong
0.26×
6th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.40×
Field-demand outlook (10-yr)Employment-weighted 10-year BLS job-growth projection for the occupations this school's program mix feeds (U.S. all-occupations benchmark +3.1%). An indicative broad-field demand signal, not a program-specific or placement guarantee.
Outpaces job-market average
+4.4%
51st percentile in peer group
Projected 10-year (2024-34) change in U.S. employment for the occupations this institution's degrees and certificates feed, blended across its program mix. Built by mapping each CIP 2-digit field to its occupations via the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk, taking the employment-weighted average of each occupation's BLS-projected percent change, then weighting fields by the institution's latest-year completions. The U.S. all-occupations benchmark is 3.1%, so a higher value means the school's graduates concentrate in faster-growing labor markets. An INDICATIVE field-level signal at broad-field granularity — not a program-specific or graduate-specific projection, and not a placement or earnings guarantee. Structurally diffuse CIP families whose crosswalk maps to 'any job' are excluded from the signal: 05 Area/Ethnic/Gender Studies, 24 Liberal Arts & Humanities, and 30 Multi/Interdisciplinary. Shown where at least 50% of completions fall in fields with a coherent occupational mapping and the school reports 100+ annual completions.
Loan repayment rate (3-yr)
78.7%
93rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 64.1%
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within three years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, FY2024-25). Read it as context, not a simple good/bad score: a low rate can mean borrowers are struggling, but it can also mean many graduates have postponed payments while enrolled in graduate or professional school, which is common at selective schools and pushes their rate down. Unlike the cohort default rate, it is not distorted by the 2020-23 federal payment pause. Reported only where enough borrowers exist.
Top fields of study (bachelor's)

Northeastern University Professional Programs’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

FieldCompletions / yrMedian earnings, 4 yrs outMedian debtEarnings premiumRisk score
Health Professions & Clinical Sciences305$90,156
78th pct · 112 peers
—Above benchmark +107%Low · 0
Business, Management & Marketing138$83,023
86th pct · 124 peers
—Above benchmark +91%Moderate · 50
Computer & Information Sciences41$163,708
100th pct · 50 peers
—Above benchmark +276%Low · 8
Biological & Biomedical Sciences38$77,709
94th pct · 82 peers
—Above benchmark +79%Low · 0
Liberal Arts & Humanities19———Low · 22
Engineering Technologies16———Moderate · 58
Psychology16$66,130
95th pct · 106 peers
—Above benchmark +52%Low · 4
Communication & Journalism5$80,191
99th pct · 72 peers
—Above benchmark +84%Moderate · 50
Social Sciences2$79,522
90th pct · 63 peers
—Above benchmark +83%Moderate · 50
English Language & Literature1$67,877
97th pct · 31 peers
—Above benchmark +56%Moderate · 50

All 8 top fields shown clear the MA state earnings-premium benchmark (indicative).

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the MA state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend—higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked
How financially healthy is Northeastern University Professional Programs?
Northeastern University Professional Programs does not file its own IPEDS finance survey — its finances are reported by its parent institution, Northeastern University, which scores 4.1 (Stable) on the NACUBO Composite Financial Index (the −4 to 10 balance-sheet score accreditors and boards use), computed from IPEDS FY2022-23 finances. This parent-level figure is informational benchmarking, not a credit rating.
What is Northeastern University Professional Programs's student-faculty ratio?
Northeastern University Professional Programs reports a student-faculty ratio of 14:1 (IPEDS, fall 2023) — that is, about 14 students for every instructional faculty member.
How much do Northeastern University Professional Programs graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $92,538 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Are Northeastern University Professional Programs's programs at risk under the federal earnings-premium test?
Indicatively, at Northeastern University Professional Programs, all 8 of the largest fields with available earnings data clear the MA state earnings-premium benchmark used by the 2025 federal test (effective July 1, 2026) — median graduate earnings (four years out) exceed those of a typical worker without the credential. This is an estimate using College Scorecard earnings vs ACS medians; the official Department of Education determination may differ.
Which schools are Northeastern University Professional Programs's peers?
Northeastern University Professional Programs is benchmarked against 140 institutions in the Doctoral/Professional University · Private nonprofit peer group; all percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.
Compare with peers
Marymount UniversityThe College of Saint ScholasticaSeattle Pacific UniversitySpringfield CollegeGardner-Webb UniversityTexas Wesleyan University

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Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite — see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.