This Semester (Spring ‘26) students can expect a delay in advising for this fall. Instead of typical March advising, students will meet with Northeastern faculty on April 9th and 15th in major specific “general information sessions”. The Office of Student Success Advising stated that such delays can be attributed to Northeastern’s preparations for Fall of 2026. Among the many changes coming to Marymount Manhattan’s campus is the transition from a 3-Credit to a 4-Credit system for the Fall of ‘26.
The Differences:
Currently, Marymount Manhattan College hosts classes on a 3-Credit system, meaning the majority of classes upon completion award the students taking them with 3-Credits. A full-time student would take between four-five 3-Credit classes in a semester — 12-15 credits a semester. These credits add up to a complete 120 credits expected for graduation.
Northeastern University runs on a 4-Credit system. Like a 3-Credit system, 4-Credit systems are based on the total number of credits attributed to a singular course taken by a student. The primary difference is in the number of courses a student will be enrolled in per semester. While the minimum number of semester credits stays the same at 12 credits for a full-time student, that student will only be required to take three classes rather than four. Additionally, the average course load for full-time students will be 16 credits rather than 15 credits. Those enrolled in 16 credits will only be taking four courses per semester.
As a result of four credits equating to four hours of classroom time, there will be no more three hour block classes. There may be four hour blocks for production based classes, but the remaining courses will meet two to three times a week.
What this means for MMC Students:
According to the official MMC and NU FAQ page:“Course-by-course equivalencies have been established between MMC and Northeastern to enable integration from a 3-credit to 4-credit based credit system and maintain a minimum requirement of 120 credits for degree completion.”
The FAQ section continued by stating that “At the individual student level, the outcome of this collaborative planning will be a degree transition map for each student that translates their courses, accumulated credits, and academic standing from one institution to the other and provides clear documentation of remaining requirements to degree completion.”
Stephen Eichinger, Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications, clarified that the inflation between the credits has been accounted for, so even when courses get mapped to equivalents, students will not lose credits. Additionally, regarding course overload fees, MMC students transitioning to NU-NYC will be “billed at standard Northeastern rates, with a discount applied to compensate for the current difference in price structure.” Eichinger noted more information on Northeastern’s commitment to compensate for the price differential is expected in upcoming weeks.
This advising season students will not meet with MMC faculty in their major like in previous semesters. Instead, students will attend “general information sessions” grouped by major. At a later date students will meet individually with NU staff for professional advising sessions.
Anthony Vigliano, Student Success Advisor, stated that “the Office [of Student Success Advising] is committed to making sure academics are easily transitioned over and we are doing our best with the limited information we have.”
Check back with this developing story.
