Wellesley College
Private College in Wellesley, MA. Six-year graduation rate 92%. Median 10-year earnings $84,803.
Ten-year median earnings of $84,803 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. 92% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $10,000. It also moves people — 2.4% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution 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 0.12 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 92% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 14% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
Wellesley College admits just 14% of applicants, placing it among the most selective undergraduate institutions in the country. 8,714 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. A 48% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. The score bands below rest on the 43% 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 | 730–770 | 248 (43%) |
| SAT Math | 730–790 | |
| ACT Composite | 33–35 | 106 (18%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Wellesley College →Academics
A 92% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 96% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 7:1, 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. 2,418 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,319 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $22,174 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $2,546 while those at $110k+ pay $54,188. About 58% get grants averaging $62,320, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing is uncommon here at 17% 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 · 571 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 | $2,546 |
| $30–48k | $2,836 |
| $48–75k | $6,587 |
| $75–110k | $11,551 |
| $110k+ | $54,188 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 390 of these 2,319 students, totalling $1,840,431 — an average of $4,719 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Norfolk 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)