Research brief & institution hub

Boston University

MALarge private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #170 nationally

Data snapshot September 27, 2026Updated October 1, 2026

Azimuth ranks Boston University #170 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Boston University is a private nonprofit university in Boston where Social Sciences and Business are the largest program families. Access is among the highest we track.

The fit is clearest for a student drawn to Boston and to programs in those fields. The typical graduate earns level with the median at comparable schools, yet graduates earn less than predicts for students like them.

What the model can measure adds to expected earnings, and what it cannot explain subtracts from it. Return is above average.

Pell students complete below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. Access is among the highest we track and mobility is among the highest we track, while affordability is modestly below average.

What a family pays turns on income. The admission rate is below the median for comparable institutions.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the best-paid fields are not the biggest.

BU at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate^[1]: 11.1%
Six-year completion^[2]: 88.7%
Four-year earnings^[3]: $83,615

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income^[6]: $11,778
Median student debt^[4]: $23,250
Median Parent PLUS debt^[7]: $39,000

BU rankings: how Azimuth assesses value^[5]

Boston University is a private nonprofit university in Boston, Massachusetts, enrolling 18,248 undergraduates. The composite standing is in the upper third of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (88th percentile).

Admission is highly selective: the university admits 11.1% of applicants, against a median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). Among full-time first-year students, 94.7% return for a second year, and 88.7% finish within six years.

The peer medians are 90.1% and 80.0%. An estimated 21.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the graduation figure describes a first-time, full-time cohort that is not the whole student body.

The four sit far apart. Access and mobility are the strongest, at the 92nd and 91st percentiles.

Return sits at the 73rd percentile, and affordability is the weakest of the four, at the 30th percentile.

Boston University stands out most on access, where Azimuth places the university in the 92nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Mobility follows closely at the 91st percentile, reflecting the scale at which graduates reach earnings that outpace their pre-college economic circumstances.

The return pillar sits in the 73rd percentile, while affordability is the weakest pillar, in the 30th percentile.

19.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks Boston University #123 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at 80.5%, 8.2 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. Azimuth ranks the university #139 for mobility. Graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students.

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

BU rankings in context
Geography	Rank
National	#170
Massachusetts	#7
Northeast	#39

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility: National percentile: 91

Access & reach: National percentile: 92

Affordability: National percentile: 30

Return on investment: National percentile: 73

Top-ranked majors

Hospitality Administration/Management#3
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other#4
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other#4

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

Explore major rankings

01 / BU briefing

BU cost & financial aid^[6]^[7]

Boston University publishes a cost of attendance of $86,285, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $68,102, and room and board are $19,020.

For the average aid recipient, the net price—what families pay after grants and scholarships—drops to $24,402, a savings of $61,883 against the sticker total. Aid covers about 72% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

That sits below the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $11,809. Azimuth ranks the university #996 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The average aid package is large, but the sticker price is high enough that the net result still lands below most peers. A low net price and a rank near the bottom of the affordability pillar pull in opposite directions.

Boston University publishes a cost of attendance of $86,285, an average across living arrangements. Tuition and fees are $68,102 and room and board are $19,020.

The average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—varies sharply by family income. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $9,500; for the $48,001–$75,000 band, it is $11,778; and for families earning over $110,000, it reaches $47,504.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $38,004. Azimuth ranks the university #996 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 72% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $61,883. The average net price across all aid recipients is $24,402, which sits below the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $11,809.

That gap reflects a pricing structure where lower- and middle-income bands see net prices well below the sticker, while the highest-income band approaches half the published cost. Median federal student debt at completion is $23,250.

That median runs above the peer median of $23,168 by $82, and 94.2% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $39,000.

If repaid over ten years, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$11,778

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at BU

Federal borrowing is widespread at Boston University: 94.2% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. Among those who complete, the median federal student loan debt is $23,250.

That median is $82 above the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month.

Parents who borrow through the separate Parent PLUS program hold a median of $39,000.

Graduates of Boston University earn a median of $83,615 four years after completion, a figure in the 91st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That median is level with the peer median of $83,615 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

At the same time, graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 6th percentile nationally. The return picture is mixed: earnings fall short of the model expectation while sitting below the peer median.

Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix suggest a typical earnings level of $83,615, with a downside scenario of $57,984 and an upside scenario of $117,834. Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median federal debt of $23,250, which is above the peer median of $23,168 by $82.

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $264 a month.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $39,000. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $264.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt: $23,250
Institution Parent PLUS debt: $39,000

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

Estimated student payment · monthly: $264/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly: $496/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 / BU briefing

BU career outcomes & earnings^[3]^[8]^[9]

Boston University's strongest pillar is access, and the return picture is mixed. Azimuth places the return pillar in the 73rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completion, completers earn a median of $83,615, in the 91st percentile. That figure sits level with the peer median of $83,615—the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 6th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,036.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $26,136. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $3,848.

A median that trails the peer group and a negative gap against the model point the same way.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of Boston University graduates is $83,615, drawn from a cohort of 4,802 completers. That figure is level with the peer median of $83,615 for comparable institutions (same type and size), placing the university in the 91st percentile nationally.

Graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 6th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a typical outcome of $83,615, with a downside scenario of $57,984 and an upside scenario reaching $117,834.

An estimated 32.4% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The return picture is mixed: the median earnings percentile is strong, but graduates fall short of what the model expects for similar students and sit below the peer median.

The wide spread between the downside and upside scenarios reflects the range of outcomes across the university's program mix.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Boston University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $83,615, in the 91st percentile. That figure is level with the $83,615 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks Boston University #397 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations measure the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students. That places the earnings gap at the 6th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,036. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $26,136.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component alone adds $3,848. The program mix spans large fields such as business, computer science, economics, and psychology, with health sciences, communication, journalism, and interdisciplinary studies also well represented.

Earnings scenarios, estimated from the program mix, range from $57,984 on the downside to $117,834 on the upside. An estimated 32.4% of graduates continue on to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings four years after completion vary widely by field at Boston University. The earnings scenarios, which reflect the university's program mix, range from a downside of $57,984 to an upside of $117,834, with the typical scenario landing at $83,615.

Three programs show the upper end of that spread. Computer Science completers earn a median of $136,667, Computer Engineering graduates reach $135,394, and Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies completers earn $110,622.

The lower-earning program clusters, captured by the downside scenario, sit well below those figures.

Graduates of Boston University earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students. That gap coincides with a median federal student debt of $23,250 for borrowers who complete a degree.

That debt runs above the median of $23,168 for comparable institutions (same type and size), and if repaid over ten years it yields a monthly payment of $264. The average net price—what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships—is $24,402, which is below the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $39,000. Both the net price and the median debt sit below their respective peer medians, even as the earnings picture remains mixed.

What explains value-added earnings?

Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.: +$9,036
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.: -$26,136
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.: -$17,100

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

Read the full admissions brief

04 / BU briefing

What are the largest majors at BU?^[12]

The return picture at Boston University depends heavily on field of study. The university awards bachelor's degrees across 36 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 34 of them nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The highest-earning program, Computer Science, shows a median of $136,667 four years after completion, with 294 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #42. Computer Engineering follows at $135,394 on 122 degrees awarded.

Among the largest programs, earnings vary. Business Administration and Management, the most-awarded field at 678 degrees, reaches $108,412 and ranks #14 nationally.

Psychology, with 276 degrees awarded, earns a median of $63,838 and ranks #26 in its field. The spread between a high-earning technical field and a large social-science program shows how much the chosen major shapes the early-career return.

Boston University runs 34 nationally ranked bachelor's programs, and earnings data cover 36 fields. The largest field, Business Administration and Management, awarded 678 degrees and ranks #14 nationally, with completers earning a median of $108,412 four years after completion.

Computer Science ranks #42 nationally and awarded 294 degrees, while its graduates show a median of $136,667. Hospitality Administration/Management ranks #3 nationally with 72 degrees awarded and a median of $82,302.

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies ranks #4 nationally, awarded 60 degrees, and reports a median of $110,622.

Boston University awards degrees across 36 programs with published four-year earnings, 34 of which carry an Azimuth national rank. The program mix is balanced across three large families: Social Sciences accounts for 15.9% of bachelor's degrees awarded, Business for 15.1%, and Communication & Journalism for 14.5%.

The largest single program is Business Administration and Management, at 678 degrees awarded, followed by Economics with 305 and Computer Science with 294. The highest-ranked program is Hospitality Administration/Management, which Azimuth ranks #3 nationally and #1 in Massachusetts within its field, with median earnings of $82,302 four years after completion.

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies also places in the top ten, at #4 nationally and #1 in Massachusetts, with 60 degrees awarded and median earnings of $110,622. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn $136,667 four years out.

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies carries a benchmark ratio of 1.99x against the national median for its field, with median earnings of $110,622. The pattern is one of strength spread across several fields rather than concentrated in one.

The largest programs in business, economics, and computer science all post median earnings at or above $96,723, and the top-ranked programs reach into health and hospitality. 33.3% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields, and the highest earnings sit in computer science, while the strongest national ranks appear in hospitality.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields

Business Administration, Management and Operations 678 degrees awarded: $108,412
Economics 305 degrees awarded: $96,723
Computer Science 294 degrees awarded: $136,667
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 276 degrees awarded: Too few graduates to report
Psychology, General 276 degrees awarded: $63,838
International Relations and National Security Studies 233 degrees awarded: $66,661

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 / BU briefing

How does BU serve students from different backgrounds?

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 88.7%, while Pell recipients complete at a rate of 80.5%, a figure that sits below the overall rate by 8.2 percentage points. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 91st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $17,100 less than the model expects for similar students, placing the earnings beyond expectations measure in the 6th percentile. A strong completion record and a Pell completion rate that trails the overall rate coexist with earnings that fall short of the model's prediction.

Boston University enrolls 18,248 undergraduates, and among nonprofit four-year institutions its access pillar sits in the 92nd percentile. The private nonprofit university admits 11.1% of applicants, a rate well below the median for comparable institutions, which is 47.1%.

19.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 21.9% are not first-time full-time students.

06 / BU briefing

What colleges are similar to BU?^[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 BU.

Admissions peerSmith College21.0% admitted

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	Smith College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$57,618-$25,997 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$27,579+$3,177 vs BU · higher cost
Admission rate	11.1%	21.0%

Higher-admission alternativeTrinity College29.3% admitted

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	Trinity College
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$83,645+$30 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$34,832+$10,430 vs BU · higher cost
Admission rate	11.1%	29.3%

Explore Trinity College →

Nearby alternativeCollege of the Holy CrossNearby option · MA

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	College of the Holy Cross
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$84,553+$938 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$38,782+$14,380 vs BU · higher cost
Admission rate	11.1%	17.6%

Explore College of the Holy Cross →

Higher-earnings alternativeBrown University$94,678 earnings

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	Brown University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$94,678+$11,063 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$25,184+$782 vs BU · higher cost
Admission rate	11.1%	5.4%

Explore Brown University →

Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell$17,163 average net price

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	University of Massachusetts-Lowell
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$81,163-$2,452 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$17,163-$7,239 vs BU · lower cost
Admission rate	11.1%	83.0%

Explore University of Massachusetts-Lowell →

Similar profileSyracuse UniversityMatched across several measures

Comparison with BU
Measure	BU	Syracuse University
Peer earnings · 4 years	$83,615	$79,406-$4,209 vs BU
Average annual net price	$24,402	$38,793+$14,391 vs BU · higher cost
Admission rate	11.1%	45.9%

Explore Syracuse University →

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 September 27, 2026Governed hub narrative September 28, 2026Governed spoke corpus September 28, 2026

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.

Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.
Source fields: ADM_RATE
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
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
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
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
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
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 uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. 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
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
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
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
First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.
Source fields: RET_FT4
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
Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.
Source fields: PCTPELL
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
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