Boston University
Private Research University in Boston, MA. Six-year graduation rate 89%. Median 10-year earnings $83,238.
Students who entered Boston University reach a median of $83,238 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. 89% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Graduates carry a median of $23,250 in debt — in line with the national norm. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.0% of students move 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 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 89% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 11% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 11% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. With 78,769 applications received, this is a school operating at national scale. 37% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction. The score bands below rest on the 33% 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 | 690–750 | 1,083 (33%) |
| SAT Math | 730–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 32–34 | 330 (10%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Boston University →Academics
A 89% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 95% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 10:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. 18,656 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 17,850 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $24,420 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $9,500 while those at $110k+ pay $47,504. Grant aid reaches 51% of students at an average of $55,763. 24% borrow federally — a low rate, though it covers federal loans only.
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 · 3,145 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 | $9,500 |
| $30–48k | $9,342 |
| $48–75k | $11,778 |
| $75–110k | $22,517 |
| $110k+ | $47,504 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,275 of these 17,850 students, totalling $23,207,868 — an average of $5,429 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)