Boston University: A Parent's Guide to Admissions, Cost & Outcomes
Boston, Massachusetts · Private nonprofit · Highly selective · CDS 2024-2025
Boston University is a private nonprofit university in Boston, Massachusetts that admits about 11% of applicants, making it a highly selective school. The average family pays about $26,996 a year after financial aid, which matters more than the published sticker price. It is best known for Business Administration, Management and Operations, Economics and Computer Science, its largest undergraduate programs by number of graduates. About 89% of students graduate within six years. Its most recent Clery Act report shows roughly 5.0 criminal offenses per 1,000 students.
Boston University is a private institution located in Boston, Massachusetts and one of the highly selective schools in the country. For the most recent reporting cycle, Boston University admits roughly one in four applicants, with an overall admission rate of 11%. Admitted students typically post an average SAT of 1473 and an ACT composite around 33. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $26,996 per year, which is the figure most families actually pay rather than the published sticker price. For parents weighing whether Boston University is realistic for their teenager, the most useful planning step is comparing your child's current GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against these admitted-student ranges — not the headline acceptance rate alone.
What parents should know about Boston University right now
Boston University, founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodists and chartered in Boston in 1869, is a private research university along the Charles River in Boston and a member of the Association of American Universities. With roughly 36,000 students across 17 schools and colleges, BU offers an unusually broad academic footprint for a private university, including the Questrom School of Business, the College of Communication, the College of Engineering, and the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. The university is also home to a top-ranked seven-year combined BA/MD program with the Aram V. Chobanian and Edward Avedisian School of Medicine, a draw for families considering accelerated pre-medical pathways. For parents, recent news worth flagging includes BU's continued test-optional policy through recent admissions cycles and its 2023 leadership transition with the appointment of Melissa Gilliam as president, the first woman to lead the university, who took office in 2024. BU has also expanded financial aid, with the BU Pledge guaranteeing tuition coverage for admitted Massachusetts residents from families with adjusted gross incomes under a published threshold. Application strategy notes include BU's binding Early Decision I and II rounds and the increasingly competitive admit rate, which has fallen meaningfully over the past five cycles as applications have surged.
What GPA does my child need for Boston University?
Most admitted students at Boston University present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school. Parents tracking their child's GPA toward this tier of school can use Solyo's free calculator to see weighted, unweighted, and college-recalculated numbers side by side.
What does Boston University weight in admissions?
Boston University reports the following factor importance in its Common Data Set (2024-2025). These are the criteria the admissions committee weighs when reviewing applications.
- • Rigor of secondary school record
- • Academic GPA
- • Class rank
- • Application essay
- • Recommendations
- • Extracurricular activities
- • Character/personal qualities
- • Standardized test scores
- • First generation status
- • Geographical residence
- • State residency
- • Volunteer work
- • Work experience
- • Level of applicant's interest
- • Interview
- • Talent/ability
- • Alumni/ae relation
- • Religious affiliation/commitment
SAT and ACT scores Boston University typically admits
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 700. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 32–34. Scores below the 25th-percentile mark are accepted occasionally, but the realistic submission target for most families is the school's middle-50 floor or higher.
| 25th percentile | 1430 |
| 50th percentile | 1470 |
| 75th percentile | 1510 |
| % submitting SAT | 33% |
| 25th percentile | 32 |
| 50th percentile | 33 |
| 75th percentile | 34 |
| % submitting ACT | 10% |
- • Test-optional: Standardized test scores are not required, but may be submitted and considered.
- • Policy detail: Considered if submitted
Where admitted students ranked in their high school class
Class rank distribution gives parents a clear sense of how academically dominant a typical admitted student was within their own high school cohort — often a more meaningful signal than absolute GPA.
| Top 10% of class | 92% |
| Top 25% of class | 100% |
| Top 50% of class | 100% |
| % submitting class rank | % |
How much does Boston University actually cost?
Published tuition is $65,168 for in-state students and $65,168 for out-of-state, before grants and scholarships. Room and board adds roughly $18,110 annually. After need-based and merit aid, the average family pays a net price of $26,996 per year — the number that actually matters for budgeting. Roughly 18% of students receive Pell Grants, a useful indicator of how much need-based aid the school distributes.
| In-state tuition | $66,670 |
| Room and board | $19,020 |
| Average net price (after aid) | $26,996 |
| Application fee | $80 (waivers available) |
Application deadlines and early decision data for Boston University
| Regular deadline | January 5 |
| Notification date | By April 1 |
| Reply deadline | May 1 |
| Offers Early Decision | Yes |
| ED deadline | November 1 |
| ED acceptance rate | 28% |
Will my child graduate from Boston University?
Retention and graduation rates are the most overlooked numbers in college planning, but they predict actual outcomes far better than acceptance rate. They tell you whether admitted students stay and finish on time.
Most popular majors at Boston University
The most popular undergraduate programs at Boston University, measured by the number of students who actually graduate each year, are Business Administration, Management and Operations, Economics and Computer Science. Across all programs, Boston University confers roughly 2,444 bachelor's degrees a year. Graduates of its Business Administration, Management and Operations program report a median income of about $102,943 five years after entering college. Major popularity is a practical signal of where a school concentrates its teaching strength and where your child will find the deepest course offerings and peer community.
| Major | Graduates / year | Median earnings (5 yrs out) |
|---|---|---|
| Business Administration, Management and Operations | 678 | $102,943 |
| Economics | 305 | $88,959 |
| Computer Science | 294 | $137,182 |
| Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication | 276 | — |
| Psychology, General | 276 | $60,374 |
| International Relations and National Security Studies | 233 | $74,117 |
| Radio, Television, and Digital Communication | 203 | $58,649 |
| Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General | 179 | $75,810 |
Is Boston University safe? Campus crime & safety
In its most recent Clery Act report (2024), Boston University disclosed 91 total criminal offenses across its campus and surrounding public property, about 5.0 per 1,000 students. That figure includes 50 violent offenses and 20 reported sexual assaults or VAWA offenses. Per-1,000-student rates matter more than raw counts when comparing schools, because larger universities mechanically report more incidents. Under the federal Clery Act, every college that receives federal aid must publish these numbers annually.
What is campus life like at Boston University?
About 66% of undergraduates at Boston University live in campus housing, making it a largely residential campus. In Greek life, 13% of women join a sorority. Residential rate and Greek participation shape day-to-day social life and are worth weighing alongside academics and cost.
Other colleges in Massachusetts parents ask about
- Harvard University3% acceptance
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology5% acceptance
- Boston College16% acceptance
- Tufts University10% acceptance
- University of Massachusetts-Amherst85% acceptance
- University of Massachusetts-Boston58% acceptance
- Northeastern University6% acceptance
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute59% acceptance
How parents track GPA toward selective schools like Boston University
Solyo helps parents track grades pulled directly from school emails, calculate GPA the same way colleges like Boston University recalculate it, and ask an AI college counselor specific questions about their teen's odds. The platform is built for parents — not students — and turns what's usually a fragmented planning process into a single dashboard.
Common questions parents ask about Boston University
What GPA do I need for Boston University?
Most admitted students at Boston University present unweighted GPAs in the 3.85–4.0 range with five or more AP or honors courses across high school.
What SAT or ACT score does Boston University typically admit?
The middle-50 SAT Math range is 720–780, with an EBRW midpoint near 700. The middle-50 ACT composite range is 32–34.
How much does Boston University actually cost after financial aid?
The average net price at Boston University after grants and scholarships is $26,996 per year. That figure is more useful for budgeting than the published sticker price, because it reflects what families actually pay after aid is applied.
Is Boston University realistic for my child?
Compare your teen's current unweighted GPA and most recent SAT or ACT against the ranges above. If both numbers fall inside the school's middle-50, Boston University is a target school. If both fall below the 25th-percentile mark, treat it as a reach and balance the application list accordingly.
What is the acceptance rate at Boston University?
Boston University accepts about 11% of applicants out of roughly 78,769 who apply each year. That makes it a highly selective school.
Is Boston University test-optional?
Yes. Boston University is test-optional, so SAT and ACT scores are not required, but strong scores can still be submitted and will be considered.
What is the graduation rate at Boston University?
About 89% of students at Boston University graduate within six years, and 81% finish in four years. 95% of freshmen return for sophomore year. Graduation rate predicts real outcomes better than acceptance rate.
Does applying Early Decision improve my chances at Boston University?
Boston University's Early Decision acceptance rate is about 28%, compared with its overall rate of 11%. Applying ED can meaningfully improve admission odds, but it is a binding commitment to enroll if accepted.
What does Boston University look for in applicants?
Boston University rates course rigor and GPA as "very important" in its Common Data Set. These are the factors the admissions committee weighs most heavily when reviewing an application.
Is Boston University a public or private school, and where is it located?
Boston University is a private nonprofit institution located in Boston, Massachusetts.
What are the most popular majors at Boston University?
The largest undergraduate majors at Boston University by annual graduates are Business Administration, Management and Operations, Economics and Computer Science. The school awards about 2,444 bachelor's degrees a year in total. These figures come from federal IPEDS completion data.
Is Boston University safe? What is its campus crime rate?
Boston University reported 91 total criminal offenses in its most recent Clery Act disclosure (2024), roughly 5.0 per 1,000 students. Compare the per-1,000 rate rather than the raw total, since larger schools report more incidents.
What is campus life like at Boston University?
At Boston University, 66% of undergraduates live on campus, 13% of women are in sororities, according to its most recent Common Data Set.
Data sourced from the 2024-2025 Common Data Set submitted by Boston University, the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard and IPEDS, and Clery Act campus safety disclosures. Solyo extracts admissions data from official Common Data Set publications and refreshes it annually.