Boston Public Schools Pipeline

Northeastern University (MA)

[White House Summit on College Opportunity, Jan. 2014]

Northeastern University will offer 150 full-tuition need-based scholarships to Boston Public Schools (BPS) graduates in 2014, including 30 new scholarships covering 100 percent of demonstrated need for low- income BPS students who live in neighborhoods surrounding its main campus.  Working with BPS guidance counselors, Northeastern will also host multiple College Readiness events on campus for BPS students and their families, aimed at helping them prepare and apply for college and financial aid.

Northeastern will initiate a comprehensive, 360-degree financial literacy program focused on ensuring that all students obtain the skills and knowledge to make informed and effective financial decisions – not just regarding how to pay for college, but throughout their lives. The focus of Northeastern’s program will be to teach students how to manage their education financing such that they can pursue and successfully manage the major financial and life commitments they will encounter after graduation.  A key emphasis will be to help students lower their education debt by limiting and eliminating convenience borrowing.  Counseling will include issues such as managing personal credit, loan repayment (including Pay as You Earn), and auto and home purchases.

Building on Existing Efforts: Northeastern’s comprehensive strategy to increase college access, affordability, and success among low-income and first-generation college students consists of 

  1. an unprecedented institutional commitment to student aid, backed by a student aid guarantee called the “Northeastern Promise”; 
  2. a nuanced and multifaceted approach to identifying and supporting low-income and first-generation students, including “undermatched” students, talented and college-ready students who underperform on some traditional admissions metrics (i.e., the SAT), and high- potential students who can achieve college readiness quickly with intensive and focused supports; and 
  3. targeted and sustained investments in student support, including freshman retention efforts, early warning systems, and counseling.  

In addition, Pell grant recipients at Northeastern have 94 percent of their tuition costs covered by grants—79 percent of which is funded by the university.  Northeastern expects to meet full need for all students receiving need-based aid by 2015-2016.

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