Northeastern finalized its merger with Marymount Manhattan College July 9, officially becoming Northeastern University – New York City.
Located in New York’s Upper East Side, the campus, which is the university’s 14th, will give students the option to spend their first year in the city through the New York City Scholars program or complete all four years of their undergraduate education there. Northeastern is now the first out-of-state university to provide a full suite of undergraduate programs in New York State, according to Northeastern Global News, or NGN, the university-run media outlet.
Northeastern first announced the merger in 2024, kickstarting the review process for its acquisition of Marymount, a liberal arts college with a study body of around 1,600 undergraduates. While the merger was under review, Northeastern and MMC operated under a provisional charter, a temporary incorporation that allows operations to continue while the review process takes place.
In the 2025-26 academic year, Northeastern sent its inaugural class of New York City Scholars, which consisted of around 350 students, according to NGN. An additional approximately 160 students will stay on the New York City campus for all four years as part of the university’s first performing arts cohort.
The Department of Education approved the merger July 9, allowing New York State to convert the provisional charter to an absolute charter. According to the New York State Educational Department, an absolute charter is issued when the institution is deemed “educationally sound and financially stable and capable of relative permanence.”
Northeastern said it will honor MMC’s performing arts roots for four-year degree programs while incorporating fields like AI and business. MMC students and staff will now have access to all of Northeastern’s campuses, the university’s co-op program and other experiential learning opportunities.
“Marymount’s suite of performing arts programs, including its dance programs, will continue to enroll students. Multiple other programs have been mapped with Northeastern’s curriculum. Northeastern is also actively exploring opportunities to add graduate degrees to the array of programs offered in New York City,” according to NGN.
According to NGN, the approximately 1,000 current MMC students will “become Northeastern students” and continue pursuing the degree of their choice without any tuition changes. MMC spanned approximately 2 acres, a partition of one city block, and maintained 55 teaching spaces and two residence halls, according to NGN. These teaching and residential facilities will be used by Northeastern as part of the merger.