In just about every meeting where I've presented over the last few months, I've been saying things like, “Our incoming freshmen class is outstanding!” or “We did an amazing job recruiting this new group of freshmen despite all the chaos in the world.” I mean every word, but I don't always have the opportunity to give the details that support these statements. So today, I'm pleased to share some reasons why we are beaming with pride about our Class of 2025 and our recruitment efforts.

To say that our freshman enrollment numbers are up sharply is an understatement – a total increase of 47% year over year. And it wasn't easy to be admitted either, as only 16% of applicants were accepted into a D'Amore-McKim program. Every measure of potential academic success is also at record levels, including a 4.22 average high school GPA and nearly double the number of Honors Program acceptances. It's also worth noting that, out of all the students who were admitted, 34% of them picked D'Amore-McKim instead of one of the other fine academic institutions that offered them acceptance – up nearly 10% from the previous year.

In addition, we had set some ambitious goals to achieve gender equity and improve student diversity, and I'm so proud to see our steady improvements. The large D'Amore-McKim Class of 2025 has more women than men for the first time in our history (54% women to be exact), and the percentage of underrepresented groups amounts to 27% of the class, up 10% from last year.  

So, the next natural question I need to answer is the ‘why' of it all. What made our undergraduate programs so attractive to this fine group of students?

  • Cooperative Education (co-op) is a key differentiator. It is a top reason students choose to come to Northeastern, and it's especially appealing to prospective business students. We're also attractive to students interested in business who want to study abroad, which could include our Global Engagement Program (GEP) that starts at the New College of the Humanities (NCH) in London or our outstanding BS in International Business (BSIB) program. Enrollments in BSIB increased 395% year over year, so this new class of students is very global at heart!
  • Another compelling factor is our increasingly popular combined major offerings. Students see the benefit of interdisciplinary study. They appreciate the combinations we offer, like the BS in Business Administration and Economics, a joint program with the College of Social Science and Humanities and currently our most popular offering of its kind. Enrollment in our combined majors has increased 181% over the last four years, and 37% of the current D'Amore-McKim student body is on a combined-major pathway. Our offerings will only continue to grow.
  • Finally, I believe that some of this success can be attributed to the efforts of our faculty, staff, and the university to remain open last year, with students and faculty interacting on campus in a safe and vibrant in-person environment. Northeastern and D'Amore-McKim were exemplars of how a university could minimize the disruption of COVID-19 and continue to provide the highest-quality experience for our students. 

And I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the efforts put into recruiting this excellent new class of students. The D'Amore-McKim Undergraduate Team and the Dean's Office, along with Northeastern's Undergraduate Enrollment Management Team, all worked together to make it happen, often with the help of current students and alumni who helped tell our story. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you for your dedication to our school and the university, especially during an unprecedented and uncertain year affected by the pandemic.

Hopefully, now you can see why we're beaming with pride these days. We are honored to have this special Class of 2025 as part of our family, and on behalf of the D'Amore-McKim faculty/staff community, we promise to do all that we can to make your journey one that's filled with excitement, experience, and opportunity.

Emery Trahan
Interim Dean
D'Amore-McKim School of Business

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