Boston University
Boston University, a leading global research institution, is located on a 175 acre urban campus in the heart of Boston close to many of the historical city’s famous attractions.
Boston University was founded in 1839, and it is the 4th largest private university in the country today with 32,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
Of the 18,229 undergraduates at Boston University, 38% of them identify as students of color and 22% are international students. They come from all 50 states and more than 118 countries.
As of October 2021, Boston University’s endowment stood at $3.35 billion due largely to substantial stock market gains. Boston University’s growing endowment has enabled it to increase undergraduate financial aid from $191 million in 2011 to more than $382 million by 2021 enabling big improvements in bringing diversity to the campus.
Distinguished alumni from Boston University represent leaders in many fields including business, finance, consulting, sports, politics and government, tech, non-profits, law, military, scientific research, education, and writing and journalism. Famous alumni include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Bob Hines, Julianne Moore, Brian Bedol, Karen Lynch and Paul Beatty.
Costs of attending Boston University 2022-2023
Tuition costs - $61,050
Fees - $1,310
Room and meal plan - $17,400
Health insurance - $3,236 to $4,323
Books and supplies - $1,000
Incidentals - $2,000
Total cost of attendance - $85,996 to $87,083
Access Boston University’s Net Price Calculator
Boston University Statistics at a Glance
Data from Boston University website and Common Data Sets.
| / | STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS | FINANCIAL AID | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrollment | 18,229 | % receiving financial aid | 40% | ||
| Women | 58% | Average financial aid | $53,073 | ||
| Men | 42% | % Pell Grant recipients | 13% | ||
| Students of Color | 38% | ||||
| International Students | 22% | ACADEMIC INFORMATION | |||
| First Generation (Class of 2025) | 19% | Student - faculty ratio | 11:1 | ||
| Instructional faculty (fulltime) | 1,828 | ||||
| ACCEPTANCE RATES | Average class size | 30 | |||
| Class of 2026 | 14% | Classes with 19 students or less | 58% | ||
| Class of 2025 | 18% | ||||
| First year retention rate | ND | ||||
| ACADEMIC STATISTICS | 6 year graduation rate | 89% | |||
| Average GPA | 3.8 | ||||
| Number of majors | 100 | ||||
| Standardized Test Scores | Number of courses | 7,000 | |||
| SAT 25th to 75th percentile | 1390-1490 | ||||
| % submitting SAT scores | 32% | Number of students who study abroad | ND | ||
| ACT 25th to 75th percentile | 31-34 | ||||
| % submitting ACT scores | 13% | STUDENT LIFE | |||
| % submitting test scores | 45% | Number of student organizations | 450 | ||
| Students who live on campus | 63% | ||||
| Class Rank | |||||
| % in top 10% of HS class | 75% | ||||
| % in top 25% of HS class | 99% | ||||
| % submitting HS class rank | 21% |
Sports at Boston University
Boston University belongs in NCAA Division 1, and the NCAA rules and calendar for athlete recruitment apply to athletes interested in being athlete recruited to Boston University.
Boston University, a private research university with an undergraduate enrollment of 18,229 students, plays a total of 21 NCAA sports, 9 of them for men and 12 for women. In the 2021/2022 season, Boston University had a total of 574 NCAA athletes comprising 3% of the total student body.
See:
What NCAA sports does Boston University play?
Boston University’s athlete recruitment policies
What you can expect from Boston University
Boston University describes itself an an international, comprehensive, private research university that is committed to educating its students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.
It strongly adheres to its founding principles that higher education should be accessible to all, and that research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice should be conducted in the service of the wider community, both local and international.
Boston University values diversity, excellence and its dynamic engagement with the city of Boston and the world.
Is Boston University hard to get into?
With a 30% surge in applications received since it went test optional, Boston University’s acceptance rates have dropped to 14% for the class of 2026 from 18% the prior year.
Despite the drop in acceptance rates, only 45% of admitted students submitted test scores. Of those who submitted test scores, the middle 50% range for the SAT was 1390-1490 and for the ACT was 31-34. Boston University admitted more students without test scores than students with test scores.
This means that Boston University relied heavily on grades and rigor of classes taken by the applicant as a proxy for college readiness in the absence of a test score.
The drop in acceptance rates driven by the big leap in applications means that an applicant to Boston University today must present as an academic achiever and a unique striver in his/her activities as well. Boston university has simply become harder to get into because of the increased competition. Boston University is now a moderately hard college to get into.
Where do Boston University graduates work and what do they earn?
According to Boston University, 90% of its graduating class of 2021 were either employed, in graduate school, joined military service or fellowships 6 months after graduation.
More than 600 employers participate in on-campus career fairs at Boston university.
Many recent Boston University alumni have also made it onto the Forbes 2021 “30 Under 30 List”.
Highlights of employers who hire Boston University undergraduates:
Accenture
Amazon
Apple
Boston Celtics
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston Consulting Group
Buzzfeed
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Deloitte
Dunkin’ Brands
ESPN
Fidelity Investments
Google
HubSpot
IBM
JetBlue Airlines
Liberty Mutual
Lockheed Martin
Marriott International
Massachusetts General Hospital
Merck & Co.
NBCUniversal
Nike
Philips Healthcare
PwC
Raytheon
Sanofi Genzyme
Teach for America
Tesla
The White House
Twitter
U.S. Department of State
U.S. House of Representatives
Wayfair
WME Entertainment
Earnings Data for Boston University Graduates
With the costs of attending college becoming prohibitively expensive, it is hard to treat the college experience as a strictly educational and developmental one. You have to think about your earnings potential as well. Unless you are very lucky, chances are that you will graduate with some student debt. Whether you can afford to pay it off in reasonable time, and not have this debt interfere with your ability to live your life without a overhanging debt burden depends on what you can earn when you graduate from college.
Knowing what you can earn with the the degree you earn and the college you earned it at is essential for planning your life. The data we provide here is meant as a guideline only as there will be variance between individuals based on many factors including the types of jobs and employers they pursue.
Data from Payscale based on 3,977 responses
| Median Starting Salary | $57,200 | Number of respondents | 3,977 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average Base Salary | $81,000 | |||
| YEARS OF EXPERIENCE | ||||
| BY MAJOR | Entry level | 5% | ||
| Computer and Information Sciences | $76,600 | Early career | 37% | |
| Engineering | $72,500 | Mid career | 27% | |
| Physical Sciences | $64,500 | Late career | 12% | |
| Business, Management, Marketing and Related | $62,700 | Experienced | 20% | |
| History | $60,300 | |||
| CAREER AVERAGES | ||||
| Early Career Salary (1st 5 years) | $66,400 | |||
| Mid-Career Salary (10+ years experience) | $128,700 | |||
| BY JOB TITLE | ||||
| Senior Software Engineer | $125,636 | |||
| Software Engineer | $90,237 | |||
| Marketing Manager | $79,348 | |||
| Mechanical Engineer | $78,682 | |||
| Project Manager | $74,120 | |||
| Data Analyst | $68,824 | |||
| Program Manager, NPO | $58,843 |
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