Education Spotlight: Northeastern University Arlington
Rosslyn is home to an exciting and growing education sector, from secondary to postgraduate offerings. This group of institutions is helping to establish a strong talent pipeline here in Arlington, with a future workforce equipped with the knowledge and skills desired by our region’s top companies.
We’re starting a new education spotlight series by featuring Northeastern University Arlington, who earlier this fall held its grand opening to mark its official welcome to Rosslyn. Located in Arlington Tower, the university offers a number of graduate programs, welcoming its first cohort of students last January. Led by CEO and Regional Dean Jamie Jones Miller, Northeastern has proven to not only be an incredible addition to Rosslyn’s education landscape, but the greater DMV area as well. Learn more from Miller below!
A campus at the center of everything
“Our campus location in Rosslyn puts Northeastern right in the heart of the National Capital Region in a vibrant neighborhood with easy access to public transportation. Rosslyn is a gateway to Northern Virginia’s thriving tech community, to the government contractors located throughout the region, and to key policymakers in the executive and legislative branches.
The proximity of campus to Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and defense and tech industry leaders will enable strategic partnerships across the public and private sectors. Graduate degree programs will initially center on security, technology, innovation, and policy, mirroring the political and economic drivers of the National Capital Region and serving up in-demand tech talent to meet employer needs.
Our campus in the Arlington Tower takes advantage of the strategic location and features state-of-the-art flexible learning spaces and areas to collaborate, study, network with peers or employers, and host or attend community events.”
Programs suited for today’s workforce needs
“Northeastern’s offerings in Arlington are focused on graduate level programs and certificates designed to close the emerging skills gap in both the private and public sectors in the National Capital Region. Our growing number of master’s programs challenge students with real-world opportunities to develop hands-on job skills, merging academic and career success. Northeastern-Arlington students graduate with the skills, experience, and confidence necessary to meet and keep pace with the workforce needs of the region’s top industries and the ability to fill mission critical skills gaps across the federal workforce.
For example, Northeastern-Arlington offers a Master’s in Computer Science, an industry that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to grow 23% from 2022 to 2032, outpacing all other sectors. And through Northeastern University’s Align program, even those without a prior background in Computer Science can pivot into a rewarding tech career. The National Capital Region is forecasted to have a 50% supply gap for tech talent and a 67% gap for tech-adjacent talent by 2025 (GWP). Anticipating this need, new programs in areas designed to address mission-critical skills gaps across industry and government are slated to launch at the Arlington campus in 2024 and beyond.”
Graduate degree options continue to expand
“Over the past eighteen months, we’ve secured key regulatory approvals to offer an initial slate of graduate degree programs this academic year and next academic year, completed construction on our campus in the Arlington Tower and received our certificate of occupancy, and welcomed a growing number of learners, faculty, and staff. We hit the ground running with our inaugural graduate student cohort in January 2023, and kept the momentum going this fall with the addition of four graduate degree programs.
We are preparing to launch eight additional graduate degree programs in fall 2024, including cybersecurity, public administration, analytics, project management, and security and intelligence studies, across four colleges: The Khoury College of Computer Sciences, the College of Engineering, the College of Social Sciences and the Humanities, and the College of Professional Studies. Campus has really come to life as we’ve welcomed students, faculty, and staff to Arlington over the past year!”
Building community through collaboration
“Our location in Rosslyn has allowed Northeastern University to collaborate with local chambers of commerce and industry associations to immerse our campus in the local business community. Since our campus launch, we have been excited to host the Arlington County Chamber’s Women in Business Summit, numerous networking events for regional technology and non-profit leaders, and a hiring event for local transitioning service members in conjunction with Hiring Our Heroes.
We’ve hosted over 30 events with external partners since opening our doors in mid-January. We are grateful to the Rosslyn BID, which welcomed Northeastern with open arms and quickly worked to integrate us into the community.”
Opportunity for a hands-on learning experience
“Northeastern University is a global leader in experiential education across our 13 campus locations. Our new Arlington campus is no exception. We encourage our students to go beyond the classroom and engage in real-world, impactful experiences designed to immerse them within their chosen fields of study. With over 125 years of co-op expertise behind us, our students not only gain theoretical knowledge but actively use their education to interact with real-world projects and the strength of an R-1 top-tier research institution. The campus is co-located with Northeastern’s Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, which will enable learners to engage in groundbreaking research in real time.
Our global university system also provides our learners with the unique experience of collaborating and engaging with their peers and our industry partners across 13 campus locations in the US, Canada, and the UK. Our network of campuses, all of which, like Arlington, reside in the world’s top innovation hubs (such as Boston, Silicon Valley, Seattle, London and more), give our students access to a global network of 300,000+ alumni in over 180 countries and a supportive community of 9,000 alumni and parents in the National Capital Region.”
Student support every step of the way
“When it comes time for our learners to move into co-op or full-time roles, Northeastern stays with them every step of the way. Our dedicated career development team provides one-on-one career guidance so that all students feel supported and prepared when they transition into the workforce. Students also have access to professional workshops, industry-focused job fairs, networking socials, employer spotlights and panels, and much more. Additionally, learners can attend virtual events hosted across Northeastern’s global campuses, providing an excellent opportunity to widen their network and form lasting professional connections with fellow students and industry professionals.
Moreover, Northeastern University is ranked number one in the country for co-op and internship programs. With over 3,300 corporate, government, and non-profit partnerships around the globe, we position graduate students to learn from and work with the best and most innovative professionals within their desired industry. As a result, when Northeastern graduates enter the workforce full-time, they do so with curiosity, experience, and confidence.”
To learn more about Northeastern University Arlington, visit https://arlington.northeastern.edu.