Boston College vs Boston University: Two Very Different Schools

Every year a few students apply to one of these thinking they applied to the other. The names are nearly identical and both sit in Boston, so the confusion is forgivable — but these are not two versions of the same school. One is a mid-sized Jesuit university on a green campus in Chestnut Hill; the other a large secular research university stitched into the city along Commonwealth Avenue.

They share a city and half a name, and almost nothing else. Boston University is nearly twice the size, harder to get into at 12.8% against 16.2%, and $17,302 cheaper after aid. Boston College graduates nonetheless out-earn BU graduates by $20,699 ten years on.

By the Admissioned team· Data: Common Data Set 2024-2025 (Boston College) and 2025-2026 (Boston University) · College Scorecard

At a glance

The decision matrix

This is the rare comparison where the more selective school is also the cheaper one, and the less selective school produces the higher earnings. Neither is “better”. They serve different students, and the data says so plainly.

Scale is the first real difference

BU enrols 18,289 undergraduates to Boston College’s 9,654 — nearly double. It draws 76,776 applications against BC’s 34,779, which is how it ends up the more selective of the two at 12.8% against 16.2% despite admitting far more students in absolute terms.

Size shapes the classroom less than you would expect. Both run a 10:1 student–faculty ratio, and BU actually has the larger share of small classes: 57.7% of its classes hold under 20 students, against 48.5% at BC. Where scale does show is in who else is there — 20.7% of BU’s first-years are international, against 7.6% at BC.

Admissions: what each school says it values

Both run binding Early Decision, so applying early commits you. Of the 18 application factors both schools rate, they disagree on only three — but the three are worth knowing.

Each school’s own rating of how heavily it weighs each factor, from its Common Data Set filing. Only the 3 factors they rate differently are shown — they agree on the other 15.

Boston College rates extracurricular activities very important where BU rates them important, and BC weighs demonstrated interest important where BU merely considers it. Visits, emails and interviews move the needle more at BC. BU, conversely, considers geographical residence where BC ignores it entirely.

Test profiles are close enough to treat as equivalent: 710–760 and 730–780 at BC, 700–750 and 720–780 at BU.

Cost: BU is cheaper, unless your family earns very little

BU’s average net price after aid is $24,402 against Boston College’s $41,704 — a difference of $17,302 a year, or roughly $17,302 times four across a degree. BC’s figure is higher than 96.5%% of American colleges.

The exception is at the bottom of the income scale, where BC is markedly more generous. A family earning under $30,000 pays $4,284 at BC against $9,500 at BU, and in the $30,000–$48,000 band it is $7,304 against $9,342. Above $110,000 the order reverses hard: $60,308 at BC against $47,504 at BU.

There is a policy difference underneath this. Boston College reports meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need; BU reports 98%. The gap is small in percentage terms and large in practice for a family whose need is assessed at a number BU does not fully cover.

Outcomes: the number that reverses the story

Ten years after enrolling, the median Boston College student earns $103,937 and the median BU student $83,238. That is a gap of $20,699 in favour of the less selective, more expensive school, and it is large enough that it is not noise.

Bar length is the share of US colleges each school beats on that measure; the tick marks the national median. Price and debt are inverted, so a longer bar is always the better outcome. Coverage varies by measure — each line states how many colleges report it. Source: College Scorecard.

Treat it carefully. Earnings reflect who enrols as much as what a school does — BC enrols a smaller share of Pell-eligible students (12.9% against 19.1%) and of first-generation students (13.2% against 16.9%), and family background predicts earnings on its own. The mobility figure controls for that better: students from the lowest-income third are earning a mean $94,900 at BC and $83,300 at BU ten years after entry. BC still leads, by less.

Retention and completion favour BC slightly as well — 96% of first-years return against 94%, and 91% graduate within six years against 90%.

The same two schools, eight ways

This is the scatter view from FitFinder loaded with just these two schools. For this pair, switch the dropdown to “Paying for the Podium” to see the cost-against-completion picture, and “A Fighting Chance” to see how each does by its lower-income students.

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