College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

Boston College: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

Boston College is a private nonprofit college in Chestnut Hill, MA. Students pay about $41,704 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $103,937 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 3.2 years and adds $386,554 over a decade, ranking it #21 of 918 (top 3%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$41,704
Median salary (10 yrs)
$103,937
10-yr value added
$386,554
Acceptance rate
16.4%

What is Boston College's acceptance rate?

Boston College has an acceptance rate of 16.4%, which makes it highly selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in Chestnut Hill, MA enrolling about 10,085 students, with a 90.9% graduation rate.

How much does Boston College cost?

Boston College costs about $41,704 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $185,816. Published sticker cost of attendance is $89,493 per year.

How much do Boston College graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median Boston College student earns $103,937 per year. That is $57,237 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is Boston College worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

Boston College pays back its roughly $185,816 cost in about 3.2 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $386,554 net of cost, a 3.08x return on the money invested. That ranks it #21 of 918 (top 3%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by strong graduate earnings and a high graduation rate.

Top 10% value

Boston College graduation rate and student debt

90.9% of Boston College students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $19,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 18% of one year of median graduate earnings.

Boston College by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How Boston College compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$41,704$20,299cheaper than 4%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$103,937$54,76898th
Graduation rate90.9%57.0%96th
Acceptance rate16.4%75.7%more selective than 95%
10-yr value added$386,554-$28,19298th
ROI multiple (per $1)3.08x0.73x92th
Payback period3.2 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 89%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is Boston College worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, Boston College ranks #21 of 918 (top 3%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 3.08x the money invested over a decade.

Is Boston College expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $41,704 average net price is above the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 4% of them.

Do Boston College graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $103,937 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 98% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into Boston College compared to other colleges?

Its 16.4% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 95% of the colleges in the snapshot.

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