🎓 College profile
Boston University
MA · Private nonprofit · Large city · 80,495 applicants 2023
🎯 Parent/student verdict
ReachHighly selective reach for nearly every applicant.
✅ Best for
- Strong academic profile (SAT 1400–1520 · ACT 32–34 middle 50% + typically a 3.9+ unweighted GPA in rigorous coursework)
- Research-oriented students (R1 — top tier of federal research funding)
🎯 The reality
- Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1400, or ACT below 32, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
- With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 True ROI
8.5× returnWhat families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.
"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).
💰 What families actually pay
Net price by family income
Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At Boston University, the average net price is $24,402/yr across all families.
🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use Boston University's official Net Price Calculator:
Get your family's estimate from Boston University →Opens on Boston University's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.
Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at Boston University
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Boston University actually graduates — not just what it markets.
Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.
💼 Top programs by earnings
Highest-earning majors at Boston University
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.
| Major (CIP) | Credential | Cohort | 1-yr earnings | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | 294 | $90,050 | $136,667 |
| Computer Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 122 | $93,995 | $135,394 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | 60 | $54,456 | $110,622 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | 678 | $71,545 | $108,412 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 126 | $69,209 | $99,024 |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 50 | $80,528 | $98,953 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | 305 | $55,733 | $96,723 |
| Mechanical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 149 | $76,337 | $95,757 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | 135 | $64,604 | $84,784 |
| Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other. | Bachelor's Degree | 41 | — | $83,413 |
For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at Boston University
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
⚖️ Compare side-by-side
Boston University vs. another college
Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.
Alternatives to Boston University
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Building a college list?
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