Overview of institution

This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.

• Institution kind: Doctoral Universities: Very High Research Activity

• Undergrad program: Balanced arts & sciences/professions, high graduate coexistence

• Graduate program: Research Doctoral: Comprehensive programs, with medical/veterinary school

• Enrollment profile: Majority undergraduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $27,829 (1.4 times the equivalent cost of Harvard).

• Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.

• Size and setting: Four-year, large, highly residential

• In state percentage: 14% of first year students come from Massachusetts

• In US percentage: 75% of first year students come from the US

• Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 89% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 83.3%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 19.7 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 5.7 (undergrads to all faculty)

• Degrees offered: Certificate of less than 1 year, Certificate of at least 12 weeks but less than 1 year, Certificate of at least 1 year but less than 2 years, Certificate of at least 2 years but less than 4 years, Bachelor’s degree, Postbaccalaureate certificate, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship, Doctor’s degree: professional practice

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 11649 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: No

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 3 percent or less of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.

Map

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Comparisons

The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. In fields where there is a common view that higher (or lower) values are better, the best values are in blue, the worst values are in red. If there isn’t a sense of a particular value being better, values are shown in varying shades of green. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.

• Boston University lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: Northwestern University, New York University, Northeastern University, Tufts University, University of Miami, University of Rochester, George Washington University, Syracuse University, Fordham University
• Boston University compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University in the City of New York, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Emory University, Boston College, Case Western Reserve University
• These institutions compare themselves to Boston University, but not vice versa: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St Louis, Tulane University of Louisiana, Bowdoin College, Babson College, American University, Brandeis University, Southern Methodist University, Stevens Institute of Technology, University of Delaware, University of Vermont, Bentley University, University of Cincinnati-Main Campus, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, The New School, George Mason University, Clark University, University of Rhode Island, University of New Hampshire-Main Campus, Marquette University, University of Denver, Hofstra University, St. John’s University-New York, Berklee College of Music, Simmons University, Suffolk University, Lawrence Technological University, Nova Southeastern University, Emmanuel College, Northeastern University Professional Programs, Marymount Manhattan College, Endicott College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Hampshire College, Lesley University, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Claremont Graduate University, Graduate Theological Union

Enrollment

General

Teaching

Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.

Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.

Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.

Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.

Geography

This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated.

Financial Aid

Graduation

Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).

Library

Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.

Diversity

The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.

Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).

These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.

Overall diversity

Freshman profile

Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.