How this school serves students from different economic backgrounds, including Pell students, first-generation pathways, and long-term mobility outcomes.
Boston University admits about 11.1% of applicants. Among admitted students who submitted scores, the middle 50% scored between 1,420 and 1,530 on the SAT (interquartile range), with an ACT middle 50% of 32 to 34. 19.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants and 16.9% are first-generation college students — a comparatively modest share for a large private research university, reflecting the institution's selective admissions profile. Transfer enrollment is limited, at 21.9% of the student body. Azimuth ranks Boston University #124 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects the scale constraint inherent in selective admissions: the number of Pell-eligible and first-generation students who benefit from Boston University's outcomes is bounded by how many gain entry in the first place. For students who do enroll, the outcomes are strong. The six-year graduation rate is 88.7%, and 80.5% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a meaningful signal that low-income students who gain admission graduate at high rates. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $83,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 98.7 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Boston University #139 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The pattern that Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes surfaces here is familiar for selective institutions: low-income students who gain admission complete at high rates and achieve strong post-graduation earnings, but the admission funnel limits how broadly those outcomes extend across the applicant pool.
Boston University admits about 11.1% of applicants. Among admitted students who submitted scores, the middle 50% scored between 1,420 and 1,530 on the SAT (interquartile range), with an ACT middle 50% of 32 to 34. 19.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants and 16.9% are first-generation college students — a comparatively modest share for a large private research university, reflecting the institution's selective admissions profile. Transfer enrollment is limited, at 21.9% of the student body. Azimuth ranks Boston University #124 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects the scale constraint inherent in selective admissions: the number of Pell-eligible and first-generation students who benefit from Boston University's outcomes is bounded by how many gain entry in the first place. For students who do enroll, the outcomes are strong. The six-year graduation rate is 88.7%, and 80.5% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a meaningful signal that low-income students who gain admission graduate at high rates. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $83,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 98.7 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Boston University #139 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The pattern that Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes surfaces here is familiar for selective institutions: low-income students who gain admission complete at high rates and achieve strong post-graduation earnings, but the admission funnel limits how broadly those outcomes extend across the applicant pool.
Boston University admits about 11.1% of applicants. Among admitted students who submitted scores, the middle 50% scored between 1,420 and 1,530 on the SAT (interquartile range), with an ACT middle 50% of 32 to 34. 19.1% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants and 16.9% are first-generation college students — a comparatively modest share for a large private research university, reflecting the institution's selective admissions profile. Transfer enrollment is limited, at 21.9% of the student body. Azimuth ranks Boston University #124 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. That position reflects the scale constraint inherent in selective admissions: the number of Pell-eligible and first-generation students who benefit from Boston University's outcomes is bounded by how many gain entry in the first place. For students who do enroll, the outcomes are strong. The six-year graduation rate is 88.7%, and 80.5% of Pell-eligible students complete within that window — a meaningful signal that low-income students who gain admission graduate at high rates. Median low-income graduate earnings reach $83,300 on a historical ten-year Scorecard measure, placing this cohort in the 98.7 percentile for low-income graduate earnings among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Boston University #139 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The pattern that Azimuth's analysis of access versus outcomes surfaces here is familiar for selective institutions: low-income students who gain admission complete at high rates and achieve strong post-graduation earnings, but the admission funnel limits how broadly those outcomes extend across the applicant pool.
