Boston College

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Boston College

Boston College operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (city: small), with a total reported enrollment of 10,085 students of which 10,548 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Boston College is categorized as “15” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 16.4%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,507 and an ACT midpoint of 34. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $41,704, with published in-state tuition of $70,702 and a Pell grant recipient share of 12.9%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $19,000, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 90.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 96.0%. Graduates earn a median of $103,937 ten years after enrolling, compared with $85,717 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 214900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 88.3% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.