Admissions & selectivity
Boston University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at BU?
BU’s reported acceptance rate is 11.1%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 11.1%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Boston University admits 11.1% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled BU students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Boston University reported that 36% of its entering class submitted SAT scores. The middle half of those SAT submitters scored from 1420 to 1510.
Among the 10% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half scored from 33 to 34. Far more of the entering class submitted SAT scores than ACT scores, so the SAT range describes more of the class.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at BU. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
36% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1420
- Median
- 1470
- 75th percentile
- 1510
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
10% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 33
- Median
- 34
- 75th percentile
- 34
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Boston University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at BU?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 19.2%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 21.9%
- First-year retention
- 94.7%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Boston University enrolls 18,248 undergraduates, a population that mixes recent high-school graduates with students who began college elsewhere. An estimated 21.9% arrive as transfers or part-time students, and 19.1% of all undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 6,761 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 2,416 admitted, and 840 enrolled. Those counts show a sizable pipeline of students seeking to continue their studies at the university.
Pell-eligible applicants and prospective transfers should review the program pages for fields that align with their prior credits and financial aid, because the university enrolls substantial numbers from both backgrounds.
Students who enroll at Boston University are very likely to stay and finish, though Pell recipients graduate at a lower rate than the overall cohort. 94.7% of first-year students return for a second year, which is above the peer median of 90.1%, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size).
The six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time students is 88.7%, also above the peer median of 80.0%. The six-year completion rate for Pell Grant recipients is 80.5%, below the overall rate by 8.2 percentage points.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.