College of
the Holy Cross
Private College in Worcester, MA. Six-year graduation rate 87%. Median 10-year earnings $90,543.
Ten-year median earnings of $90,543 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. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.30 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 87% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 1.0 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 18% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. 9,568 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is high — 50% 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 | 630–710 | 254 (30%) |
| SAT Math | 610–700 | |
| ACT Composite | 27–32 | 127 (15%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at College of the Holy Cross →Academics
87% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 95% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. 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 3,041 — 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 3,020 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $36,014 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 $14,343 at the $0–30k band to $56,284 at $110k+. About 62% get grants averaging $42,409, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 38% 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 · 823 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 | $14,343 |
| $30–48k | $16,179 |
| $48–75k | $12,682 |
| $75–110k | $27,711 |
| $110k+ | $56,284 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,146 of these 3,020 students, totalling $6,481,850 — an average of $5,656 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Worcester 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)