by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege of the Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit institution in Worcester, Massachusetts enrolling 3,106 undergraduates. It accepts 18% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 87%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #113 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 2%), 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.
College of the Holy Cross ranks #113 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 2%.
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.
College of the Holy Cross was awarded 97 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Holy Cross as #113 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
Within the state, Holy Cross holds the #11 spot on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts ranking.
See all of the rankings for College of the Holy Cross.
With an acceptance rate of 18%, Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 630 and 710. Math scores were between 610 and 700.
Holy Cross received ACT scores from 15% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 27 and 32.
Learn more about College of the Holy Cross admissions.
At Holy Cross, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 9 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.
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 College of the Holy Cross is 89%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
College of the Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 87%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at College of the Holy Cross.
In the current academic year, there are 3,106 undergraduates at Holy Cross.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at College of the Holy Cross.
The average net price of Holy Cross 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $14,343 | $16,179 | $12,682 | $27,711 | $56,284 |
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 Holy Cross, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Holy Cross, approximately 38% of students took out student loans averaging $5,656 a year. That adds up to $22,624 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.6%. 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 College of the Holy Cross.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from College of the Holy Cross with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $90,543 in their early years. That’s great news for College of the Holy Cross students since it is 84% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at College of the Holy Cross make the most money.
College of the Holy Cross is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Worcester, Massachusetts. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of College of the Holy Cross.
Contact details for College of the Holy Cross are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | One College Street, Worcester, MA 01610-2395 |
| Phone: | 5087932011 |
| Website: | www.holycross.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/collegeoftheholycross |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/holy_cross |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 15 majors graduated from College of the Holy Cross. 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 | 892 | NA |
| Economics | 126 | $61,612 |
| Political Science & Government | 111 | $44,436 |
| General Psychology | 102 | $37,609 |
| General Biology | 77 | $36,352 |
| Mathematics | 58 | $50,599 |
| General English Literature | 52 | $31,588 |
| Chemistry | 46 | $41,359 |
| Sociology | 37 | $34,474 |
| History | 36 | $43,146 |
Want to see how other colleges compare to Holy Cross? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
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