Lesley University is a private not-for-profit institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts enrolling 1,122 undergraduates. It accepts 97% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 58%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #945 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 18%), 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.
Lesley University ranks #945 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 18%.
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.
Lesley University was awarded 8 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Lesley as #945 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Lesley is also ranked #52 on the Best Colleges in Massachusetts list.
See all of the rankings for Lesley University.
With an acceptance rate of 97%, Lesley University is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.
Learn more about Lesley University admissions.
At Lesley, 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.
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 Lesley University is 27%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Lesley University is 72%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Lesley the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 58%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Lesley University.
In the current academic year, there are 1,122 undergraduates at Lesley.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Lesley University.
The typical net cost at Lesley 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $24,799 | $24,044 | $29,030 | $33,201 | $35,152 |
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 Lesley, 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 Lesley, approximately 54% of students took out student loans averaging $6,718 a year. That adds up to $26,872 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 3.6%. 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 Lesley University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Lesley University make around $51,173 per year during the early years of their employment. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at Lesley University make the most money.
Lesley University is an private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Lesley University.
Get in touch with Lesley University can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 29 Everett St, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790 |
| Phone: | 6178689600 |
| Website: | www.lesley.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesley_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/LesleyUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/lesley_u |
In the latest year of available data, students from 17 majors graduated from Lesley 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 | 828 | NA |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 208 | $42,051 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 94 | $38,433 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 51 | $51,742 |
| Special Education | 48 | $54,822 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 48 | $30,949 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 44 | $36,847 |
| General Psychology | 42 | $33,544 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 29 | $34,966 |
| Writing Studies | 27 | $45,226 |
544 students took at least one online class at Lesley University.
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 Lesley University.
Curious how schools stack up against Lesley? Compare them side by side 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