by our College Data Analytics TeamIf you want to know more about Boston University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
Boston University was awarded 862 badges in the 2026 rankings.
Boston University is ranked #52 out of 3,449 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2026 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Boston University also holds the #6 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
With an acceptance rate of 11%, Boston University 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 33% of students accepted to Boston University submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 690 and 750. Math scores were between 730 and 780.
Boston University received ACT scores from 10% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 32 and 34.
At Boston University, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 10 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Boston University is 69%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Boston University has a freshmen retention rate of 95%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Boston University the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 90%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Boston University.
In the current academic year, there are 17,850 undergraduates at Boston University.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Boston University.
The typical net cost at Boston University is $16,772. 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.### Net Price by Income Group for Boston University
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $11,453 | $11,167 | $13,639 | $25,501 | $48,018 |
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 University, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Boston University, approximately 23% of students took out student loans averaging $5,428 a year. That adds up to $21,712 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.0%. 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 University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Boston University make around $83,238 per year during the early years of their employment. That’s great news for Boston University students since it is 69% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
Boston University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Boston University.
Get in touch with Boston University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | One Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215 |
| Phone: | 6173532000 |
| Website: | www.bu.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/BostonUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/BU_Tweets |
In the latest year of available data, students from 28 majors graduated from Boston University. 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 | 13,233 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 1,979 | $88,186 |
| Computer Science | 646 | $94,796 |
| Public Relations & Advertising | 405 | $55,843 |
| General Psychology | 400 | $36,754 |
| Economics | 385 | $53,654 |
| Data Analytics. | 379 | NA |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 373 | $80,155 |
| Social Work | 354 | $49,458 |
| Radio, TV & Digital Communication | 305 | $39,485 |
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
216 students took at least one online class at Boston University.
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