Boston College
Private Research University in Chestnut Hill, MA. Six-year graduation rate 91%. Median 10-year earnings $103,937.
Students who entered Boston College reach a median of $103,937 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 91% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $19,000 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.18 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 91% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 16% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. The applicant pool is large — 35,037 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Yield is high — 44% of admitted students go on to enroll, well above the typical rate. The score bands below rest on the 30% 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 | 710–760 | 711 (30%) |
| SAT Math | 730–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 366 (15%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Boston College →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 91% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 96% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 10,083 undergraduates puts this among the larger schools, which usually means more choice and less individual attention.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 9,866 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $32,519 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $4,284 while those at $110k+ pay $60,308. Only 46% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. Federal borrowing reaches 31% of students.
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 · 2,335 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 | $4,284 |
| $30–48k | $7,304 |
| $48–75k | $13,112 |
| $75–110k | $19,999 |
| $110k+ | $60,308 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 3,021 of these 9,866 students, totalling $14,502,980 — an average of $4,801 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)