Oakland campus abuzz with energy as largest-ever cohort arrives
Students from across the U.S. and around the world moved onto Northeastern’s Oakland campus, ready to take advantage of Bay Area opportunities.
OAKLAND – The hum of activity on Northeastern University’s Oakland campus in the weeks leading up to the school year grew to a rumble on Thursday, as new students from across the United States and around the world arrived to begin their college journeys.
Cars queued up before 8 a.m. along the tree-lined Richards Road, packed to the brim with suitcases, mattress toppers and mini fridges, which contracted helpers loaded into large bins and delivered to students’ rooms. While their digs were being outfitted, the new arrivals and their families enjoyed time outside in the crisp California air. Students picked up their Husky card and room keys and began orientation programming.
Matthew Howell, of Long Island, New York, was among the first batch of students to arrive on campus. After collecting his campus ID, map and room assignment, and ensuring his luggage was on its way to his dorm, Howell and his parents stood outside the F.W. Olin Library, taking in the moment and listening to the bustle of other new Huskies arriving close behind.
“We’re so excited for him, though we’ll miss him dearly,” said his mother, Linda Howell, stealing a tender glance at her son. “He’s our youngest, so we’re officially empty-nesters.”
Howell, who will join the politics, philosophy and economics, or PPE, track, said Northeastern’s co-op program is what drew him to the university and to the Bay Area. The opportunities for real-world job experience in the Northern California hub of industry, tech and entrepreneurship were things he couldn’t pass up, he said.
Between his studies, Howell said he is excited to explore the wide variety of trees on Oakland’s 135-acre campus, pointing to a nearby grove of towering eucalyptus trees, which do not grow naturally in his home state.
Kainoa Oneken, from Hawaii’s island of Oahu, found refuge from the busy move-in activities at the campus Tea Shop, where he downed a breakfast of eggs, potatoes and orange juice. He learned about Northeastern through the College Horizons program, which offers a course for Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian high school students focused on understanding the college admissions process.
Oneken said he wants to take advantage of Northeastern’s behavioral neuroscience program, which is led on the Oakland side by biology professor Jared Young. Undergraduate students in Young’s intimate lab acquire foundational skills through research on microscopic worms called nematodes, learning that gives them a leg-up in Boston’s competitive lab placements. Oneken said he hopes the program will assist him as he pursues the pre-medical track.
An ocean away from home, Oneken admitted that he felt nervous about being in an unfamiliar place, but said the stuffed animal he brought with him – Stitch, the cute, four-armed Disney alien who crash lands on Hawaii – is helping to ease the transition.
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New students are coming to the Oakland campus from 41 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, according to university data. Massachusetts, New York and California are some of the most well-represented states in the 2026-2027 class, while just a handful of students hail from Utah, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Ohio.
Nearly 80 international students are also moving onto the Oakland campus this week, flying to the Bay Area from China, Brazil, France, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Venezuela, Korea, Indonesia and Qatar, according to university data.
But some students had an easier route to campus.
It took Anika Nadgauda, who will pursue a dual major in PPE and business administration, less than two hours to drive to Oakland from her home in Sacramento, California, she said. She felt a bit overwhelmed when she arrived as her ideas about college suddenly became reality. But after meeting some of her classmates and learning about the campus, she felt more comfortable, she said.
Nadgauda will spend her first year in Oakland, then continue on Northeastern’s Boston campus, she said, where in addition to her studies she hopes to join the student Bollywood dance team.
As the hundreds of new Husky families moved students into their dorm rooms, enjoyed food and music and embarked on group tours around the campus, new friendships were already beginning to form.
A group of students in front of Lisser Hall introduced themselves to each other, swapping names, home states and chatting about shared interests. Another pair exclaimed with joy when they realized they had traveled to Oakland from the same neighborhood in Massachusetts.
Proud parents followed closely behind their children, helping carry some of their extra belongings and sneaking photos of them as they charged ahead toward their dorm rooms.
While in Oakland, business and psychology student Ethan Ko said he plans to continue practicing martial arts, including taekwondo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Originally from Virginia, Ko said he was attracted to the idea of California’s weather, nature and laidback energy.
He came to Northeastern undecided on whether he’d ultimately like to go into finance or med school for psychology, he said. But, he assured his family sitting next to him, he’ll have time to find his path, all while enjoying the West Coast lifestyle.
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