Bennington College
Private College in Bennington, VT. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $38,289.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $38,289, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. 71% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $26,000, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.68 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 45% of applicants are offered a place. 2,996 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 12%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. The score bands below rest on the 10% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 703–750 | 16 (10%) |
| SAT Math | 588–653 | |
| ACT Composite | 30–32 | 6 (4%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Bennington College →Academics
71% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 82% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. A 20% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. A 9:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 752 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $34,220 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $18,480 at the $0–30k band to $44,625 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 96% of students receive it, averaging $52,197. 50% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 206 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $18,480 |
| $30–48k | $18,012 |
| $48–75k | $22,336 |
| $75–110k | $25,508 |
| $110k+ | $44,625 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 379 of these 752 students, totalling $2,342,771 — an average of $6,181 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Bennington County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)