by our College Data Analytics TeamBoston College is a private not-for-profit institution in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts enrolling 10,085 undergraduates. It accepts 16% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 91%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #21 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Boston College ranks #21 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Boston College was awarded 883 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, Boston College is ranked #21 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
Within the state, Boston College holds the #2 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
See all of the rankings for Boston College.
With an acceptance rate of 16%, Boston College is one of the most selective schools in the country. Good grades and high test scores alone may not be enough to get you into the school, so do your best to submit a stellar application.
About 30% of students accepted to Boston College submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 710 and 760. Math scores were between 730 and 780.
Boston College received ACT scores from 15% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 33 and 35.
Learn more about Boston College admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Boston College is an impressive 10 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Boston College is 61%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 96% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Boston College enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Boston College for first-time, full-time students is 91%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Boston College.
In the current academic year, there are 10,085 undergraduates at Boston College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Boston College.
The average net price of Boston College is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,284 | $7,304 | $13,112 | $19,999 | $60,308 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Boston College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Boston College, approximately 30% of students took out student loans averaging $4,801 a year. That adds up to $19,204 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 1.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for Boston College.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Boston College make around $103,937 per year during the early years of their employment. This is good news for future Boston College graduates since it is 111% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at Boston College make the most money.
Boston College is an private not-for-profit institution found in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Chestnut Hill is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Boston College.
Get in touch with Boston College can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 |
| Phone: | 6175528000 |
| Website: | www.bc.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_College |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/BostonCollege |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/BostonCollege |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 26 majors graduated from Boston College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 5,276 | NA |
| Finance & Financial Management | 515 | $76,009 |
| Economics | 437 | $64,785 |
| Business Administration & Management | 310 | $91,725 |
| Social Work | 251 | $49,420 |
| General Biology | 239 | $38,609 |
| Nursing | 212 | $77,846 |
| Law | 212 | $89,485 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 207 | $49,055 |
| General Psychology | 204 | $37,262 |
1,009 students took at least one online class at Boston College.
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
Learn more about online learning at Boston College.
Want to see how other colleges compare to Boston College? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References