Northeastern Advances in Data Maturity: 2025 Survey Results

This spring, Northeastern University conducted its second Data Maturity Assessment (DMA) to understand the university’s readiness and capability to manage and use data for decision-making and institutional goals. The first assessment in 2023 provided a baseline, and this year’s survey, completed by 1,857 staff members (a 38% response rate), offers a clear snapshot of how our data culture is growing. 

The most striking gains point to a stronger, more supportive environment for data-informed work. Staff reporting that training and support exist to build data literacy skills increased by +19%, and frequent data use in daily work rose by +8%. Compared to 2023, more colleagues agreed that data literacy was important (+4%), viewed data-informed decision-making as relevant (+5%) and reported participating in data-related projects within their units (+7%). At the same time, several key barriers to data use, such as difficulty accessing the right data or knowing where to find it, saw significant declines, making it easier for staff to engage with data in their roles. 

We also saw movement in how people engage with data: fewer colleagues reported having little to no interaction with data or relying entirely on others for dashboards and analyses, while more said that they were making important data-informed decisions that shaped their unit or the wider university. New 2025 measures, including perceptions of analytics maturity and self-reported AI literacy, also showed encouraging levels of competence and engagement. These insights will guide the Data Literacy Program as it continues to design training and programming to further increase data maturity over time. 

For more information about the 2025 Data Maturity Assessment or to request a presentation of the results to your team, please contact dataliteracy@northeastern.edu.