College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Babson College

MAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #182 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Babson College #182 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Babson College is a private nonprofit university in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where every bachelor's degree awarded is in Business. Return is among the highest we track, and the fit is clearest for a student who wants a focused business education and expects to work after the degree.

Graduates earn above the median at comparable schools, and the largest program is also the best-paid one. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, so the four-year earnings figure captures the typical outcome.

Affordability is below the levels seen at many peers. The highest income band pays the full published cost on average, while the lowest band pays less.

A student who needs aid will find a wide spread between what families at the two ends of the income scale pay. The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions. The page cannot tell you what the department is like to study in.

Babson College at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
17.1%
Six-year completion[2]
93.1%
Four-year earnings[3]
$117,794

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$16,861
Median student debt[4]
$20,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$41,699

Babson College rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Babson College is a private nonprofit university in Wellesley, Massachusetts, enrolling 2,728 undergraduates. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, the university sits near the top of the composite ranking (88th percentile).

The university admits 17.1% of applicants; the median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is 71.2%. Of full-time first-year students, 94.6% return for a second year, against a peer median of 83.4%.

The six-year graduation rate is 93.1%, compared with a peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 9.7% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation rate describes the experience of most who start here as first-year students.

The four sit far apart. Return is the strongest pillar (98th percentile), while affordability is the weakest (7th percentile). Access and mobility occupy the middle ground (64th and 74th percentiles).

Babson College ranks #182 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The return pillar is the strongest, at the 98th percentile.

Affordability is the weakest of the four, at the 7th percentile. Mobility sits at the 74th percentile and access at the 64th percentile.

16.3% of undergraduates at Babson College receive Pell Grants. Those students complete at 92.1%, 1.0 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (93.1%).

Azimuth ranks the university #526 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That places the access pillar in the 64th percentile.

Azimuth ranks the university #384 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The mobility pillar sits in the 74th percentile.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Babson College rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#182
Massachusetts#8
Northeast#43

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 74
Access & reach
National percentile: 64
Affordability
National percentile: 7
Return on investment
National percentile: 98

Top-ranked majors

  1. Business Administration, Management and Operations#7

This school’s highest-ranked program nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Babson College briefing

Babson College cost & financial aid[6][7]

Babson College lists a published cost of attendance of $80,192, including tuition and fees of $57,152 and room and board of $21,550. For the average aid recipient here, the average net price is $40,514, a savings of $39,678 off the published cost.

That net price is $13,143 above the $27,371 median at comparable institutions (same type and size). Azimuth ranks the university #1,315 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at Babson College is $80,192. Azimuth ranks the university #1,315 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $23,641, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $16,861, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $80,192. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $56,551.

Aid covers about 49% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The across all aid recipients is $40,514, which is $13,143 above the $27,371 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median of $20,000 in federal student loans. That is $4,199 below the $24,199 median for comparable institutions.

91.7% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $41,699 in Parent PLUS loans.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$16,861

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Babson College

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Babson College who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $117,794. That figure is $49,544 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and it places the university at the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

On the debt side, the median federal student loan balance at completion is $20,000, which is $4,199 below the peer median. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years.

For the separate population of parent borrowers, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $41,699. For student borrowers, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$20,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$41,699

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$227/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$530/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Babson College briefing

Babson College career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $117,794. That is $49,544 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size), and it lands in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth places the return pillar at Babson College in the 98th percentile.

Graduates of Babson College earn a median of $117,794 four years after completion, placing the university in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The figure draws on an earnings cohort of 593 federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, show a typical outcome of $117,794. These are scenarios, not observed groups of graduates.

An estimated 20.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $117,794, in the 99th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That is $49,544 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks Babson College #24 for return. The university awards all of its bachelor's degrees in Business.

An estimated 20.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The program mix does not yield a wide spread in estimated outcomes. Business Administration and Management is the only program with published earnings data, reporting a median of $107,520 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks it #7 nationally within its field and #1 in Massachusetts.

Return is the strongest pillar, while affordability is the weakest at the 7th percentile. Borrowers who finish carry a median of $20,000 in federal student loans, which is $4,199 below the peer median of $24,199 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $227 a month if repaid over ten years. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $41,699 in Parent PLUS loans.

The published cost of attendance is $80,192. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $40,514, which is $13,143 above the peer median.

Aid covers about 49% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, though individual packages vary.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Babson College briefing

Babson College acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Babson College admits 17.1% of applicants, well below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 9,379 applicants and 1,603 admitted students, with 625 enrolling.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
17.1%
25th percentile
1410
Median
1460
75th percentile
1500

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Babson College briefing

What are the largest majors at Babson College?[12]

Babson College awards all of its bachelor's degrees in a single field, and that field's earnings sit well above the national benchmark. Business Administration and Management is the largest program with 564 degrees awarded, and its graduates earn a median of $107,520 four years after completion.

Azimuth ranks the program #7 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions in its field, and #1 in Massachusetts. Its earnings run at 1.57x the national median for the field.

With all awards in business, the program-level earnings picture is narrow rather than varied. A student considering Babson is effectively choosing a business degree, and the median four-year earnings for that degree are $107,520.

Babson College is a focused institution: Business accounts for 100.0% of bachelor's degrees awarded. The college has 1 nationally ranked program.

Business Administration and Management is the largest single program, with 564 degrees awarded. Azimuth ranks it #7 within its field among nonprofit four-year institutions, and it is also the top-ranked program in Massachusetts.

Graduates of the program earn a median of $107,520 four years after completion, which is 1.57x the national median for the field. The program's earnings are the highest at the college.

Babson College awards bachelor's degrees in one field alone. Business accounts for 100.0% of all degrees awarded, and the college offers 1 ranked program with 1 carrying published four-year earnings data.

The college awards 564 degrees a year in Business Administration and Management, its largest program. Business Administration and Management is the highest-earning bachelor's program at the college.

The program ranks #1 in Massachusetts within its field. The same program is also the largest by degrees awarded and holds the college's only published program-level earnings figure.

It carries a benchmark ratio of 1.57x against the national median for its field. A benchmark ratio compares a program's median earnings to the national median for its specific field.

A ratio above one means graduates out-earn the typical comparable program in that same field nationally. With every undergraduate bachelor's degree concentrated in one field, the college's catalog shows a single earnings outcome.

That concentration leaves the overall result matching this single program exactly.

Four-year earnings · the largest reported field
Business Administration, Management and Operations 564 degrees awarded
$107,520

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Babson College briefing

What colleges are similar to Babson College?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Babson College.

Admissions peerBoston College16.4% admitted
Comparison with Babson College
MeasureBabson CollegeBoston College
Peer earnings · 4 years$117,794$96,145-$21,649 vs Babson College
Average annual net price$40,514$41,704+$1,190 vs Babson College · higher cost
Admission rate17.1%16.4%
Explore Boston College →
Higher-admission alternativeBentley University45.1% admitted
Comparison with Babson College
MeasureBabson CollegeBentley University
Peer earnings · 4 years$117,794$108,577-$9,217 vs Babson College
Average annual net price$40,514$37,930-$2,584 vs Babson College · lower cost
Admission rate17.1%45.1%
Explore Bentley University →
Nearby alternativeBentley UniversityNearby option · MA
Comparison with Babson College
MeasureBabson CollegeBentley University
Peer earnings · 4 years$117,794$108,577-$9,217 vs Babson College
Average annual net price$40,514$37,930-$2,584 vs Babson College · lower cost
Admission rate17.1%45.1%
Explore Bentley University →
Lower-cost alternativeNortheastern University$30,915 average net price
Comparison with Babson College
MeasureBabson CollegeNortheastern University
Peer earnings · 4 years$117,794$101,903-$15,891 vs Babson College
Average annual net price$40,514$30,915-$9,599 vs Babson College · lower cost
Admission rate17.1%5.2%
Explore Northeastern University →
Similar profileLafayette CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Babson College
MeasureBabson CollegeLafayette College
Peer earnings · 4 years$117,794$91,758-$26,036 vs Babson College
Average annual net price$40,514$34,433-$6,081 vs Babson College · lower cost
Admission rate17.1%31.5%
Explore Lafayette College →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings