Berklee College
of Music
Private College in Boston, MA. Six-year graduation rate 68%. Median 10-year earnings $33,647.
Students who entered Berklee College of Music reach a median of $33,647 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Completion is a strength: 68% of students finish within six years. Median debt at graduation is $25,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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 0.74 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Berklee College of Music admits 44% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in five applicants are turned away. 7,050 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is high — 46% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate.
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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Berklee College of Music →Academics
68% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 89%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. The part-time picture is harder: 60% return, against 89% full-time. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 7,510 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $49,797 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 $42,734 at the $0–30k band to $54,676 at $110k+. About 66% get grants averaging $25,006, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 34% 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 · 1,396 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 | $42,734 |
| $30–48k | $37,987 |
| $48–75k | $47,799 |
| $75–110k | $46,801 |
| $110k+ | $54,676 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 2,581 of these 7,510 students, totalling $17,681,155 — an average of $6,851 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Suffolk 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)