Bentley University
Private College in Waltham, MA. Six-year graduation rate 87%. Median 10-year earnings $120,959.
Ten-year median earnings of $120,959 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. The six-year graduation rate of 87% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $25,023, neither a bargain nor a burden. On economic mobility, 2.9% of students travel from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.21 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 87% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
At 45%, the acceptance rate makes Bentley University a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. 11,012 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. 21% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 19% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 630–700 | 196 (19%) |
| SAT Math | 650–730 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–31 | 16 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Bentley University →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 87% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 93%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The 12:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. The undergraduate population is 4,350 — big enough for a real range of programs, small enough to navigate.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 4,287 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $45,802 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 $21,196 at the $0–30k band to $49,190 at $110k+. 82% of students receive grant aid, averaging $33,694 — common but not automatic. About 44% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 1,120 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 | $21,196 |
| $30–48k | $18,587 |
| $48–75k | $26,164 |
| $75–110k | $33,653 |
| $110k+ | $49,190 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,878 of these 4,287 students, totalling $12,571,823 — an average of $6,694 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Middlesex 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)