I was at NEU from 2007-2012. Aoun, who became president in 2006, was not popular amongst the students. It was pretty apparent that he was making changes simply

I was at NEU from 2007-2012. Aoun, who became president in 2006, was not popular amongst the students. It was pretty apparent that he was making changes simply to make things appear better on paper, and some of them actually made the students really angry. A big one that I remember was that they eliminated the mandatory co-op requirement (which means most students graduate in 5 years instead of 4), which is a core tenet of NEU's philosophy! The changes NEU made between 1996 and 2006 were seemingly genuinely good for students. My dad had graduated from NEU in '86, and he was really impressed with how far the school had come. But I wouldn't say anything that changed while I was there had any real impact on my experience, so my gut instinct says they were more gamey than anything.