Tufts vs Boston College: Which Outcome Number You Trust Decides This
This is one of the genuinely close calls in the Boston area, and students holding both offers often spend weeks on it. The campuses are twenty minutes apart, cost within a few hundred dollars of each other after aid, and admit students with nearly identical test scores. The temptation is to settle it on selectivity. Resist that — the outcome data is more interesting than that.
Tufts is the harder admit at 10.8% against 16.2%, and the two cost within $1,706 of each other after aid. Their outcome data disagrees: Boston College posts the higher median earnings, while Tufts does far more for students who arrive with the least.
At a glance
| Tufts University | Boston College | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Medford, MA | Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Undergraduates | 7,031 | 9,654 |
| Acceptance rate | 10.8% | 16.2% |
| Applicants / admits | 33,415 / 3,613 | 34,779 / 5,632 |
| Middle 50% SAT | 1450–1540 | 1440–1540 |
| Middle 50% ACT | 33–35 | 33–35 |
| Student–faculty ratio | 9.691:1 | 10:1 |
| Average net price after aid | $39,998 | $41,704 |
| Median earnings, 10 yrs out | $83,214 | $103,937 |
The decision matrix
Two private universities minutes apart, at almost the same price, with almost the same test scores. The differences that matter are in what each school weighs in an application and in which outcome measure you believe.
Choose Tufts University if you want…
- Much stronger outcomes if you start with less. Students from the lowest-income third are earning a mean $135,600 a decade after they started against $94,900 at BC — the top 0.7% of US colleges.
- More small classes. 59.8% of classes under 20 students against 48.5% at Boston College.
- A process that weighs rank, tests and talent heavily. All three are very important at Tufts and only important at BC.
- Less debt at graduation. A median $16,250 against $19,000 at Boston College.
- A more international campus. 12% of first-years come from outside the US, against 7.6% at BC.
Choose Boston College if you want…
- The higher median earnings. $103,937 ten years out against Tufts’s $83,214, a gap of $20,723.
- A far lower price on a low income. Under $30,000 of family income, $4,284 at BC against $11,284 at Tufts.
- Better odds of admission. 16.2% against Tufts’s 10.8%, from a similarly sized applicant pool.
- Higher first-year retention. 96% of first-years return, against 95% at Tufts.
- A larger student body. 9,654 undergraduates against 7,031.
The outcome data points in two directions
Start with the headline number, because it favours the less selective school. Median earnings ten years after enrolling are $103,937 for Boston College and $83,214 for Tufts — a gap of $20,723 in BC’s favour, despite Tufts admitting a third fewer of its applicants.
Now the mobility figure, which asks a narrower question: what happens to students who arrive from the lowest-income third of families? Those students are earning a mean $135,600 at Tufts and $94,900 at Boston College ten years after entry. That is $40,700 the other way, and it puts Tufts in the top 0.7% of American colleges.
Both numbers are real. They disagree because a median reflects everyone who enrolled, including the advantages they brought with them, while the mobility figure isolates the students for whom the school plausibly made the difference. If you are asking “what do graduates earn”, BC wins. If you are asking “what will this school do for someone like me, starting where I am starting”, and you are not starting from wealth, Tufts wins by more.
Median earnings, 10 years after entry · US median $53,038 across 1,804 colleges
Earnings of students from the lowest-income third · US median $42,600 across 1,488 colleges
Average net price after aid · US median $20,150 across 1,710 colleges
Median debt at graduation · US median $23,000 across 1,716 colleges
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.
Admissions: seven factors they weigh differently
Both run binding Early Decision, and the two applicant pools are nearly the same size — 33,415 to Tufts and 34,779 to BC. Tufts admits a much smaller share of them.
| Application factor | Tufts University | Boston College |
|---|---|---|
| Class rank | Very important | Important |
| Standardized test scores | Very important | Important |
| Talent/ability | Very important | Important |
| Alumni/ae relation | Important | Considered |
| First generation | Important | Considered |
| Interview | Important | Considered |
| Geographical residence | Considered | Not considered |
Each school’s own rating of how heavily it weighs each factor, from its Common Data Set filing. Only the 7 factors they rate differently are shown — they agree on the other 11.
Tufts rates more of the application at the top of its scale: class rank, standardised tests and talent are all very important there against important at BC, and interviews, alumni relations and first-generation status each sit a step higher. If your case rests on a strong rank or a specific talent, Tufts says it will weigh that more heavily.
Test ranges are effectively identical — 720–760 and 730–780 at Tufts, 710–760 and 730–780 at BC — so the difference is in how much weight the score carries, not in what score you need.
Cost: close on average, apart at the extremes
Average net price after aid is $39,998 at Tufts and $41,704 at Boston College, a difference of $1,706. Both are expensive by national standards — BC’s figure is higher than 96.5%% of US colleges and Tufts’s higher than 95.3%%.
The averages hide a real divergence at the bottom of the income scale. A family earning under $30,000 pays $4,284 at Boston College and $11,284 at Tufts — BC is dramatically cheaper for the families with the least. From $30,000 to $48,000 it is $7,304 against $9,811, still in BC’s favour.
Above $110,000 the two converge again, at $60,308 for BC and $58,570 for Tufts. Both schools report meeting 100% of demonstrated need, and graduates leave Tufts owing a median $16,250 against $19,000 at BC.
Campus and teaching
Tufts is the smaller school at 7,031 undergraduates against 9,654, and runs more small classes — 59.8% under 20 students against 48.5%, a wider gap than the near-identical 9.691:1 and 10:1 student–faculty ratios suggest.
Tufts draws more students from outside the US, at 12% of first-years against 7.6%, and graduates a slightly larger share within six years at 94% against 91%. Boston College holds the edge on first-year retention, 96% against 95%.
The same two schools, eight ways
This is the scatter view from FitFinder loaded with just these two. “Climbing the Ladder” is the view that matters for this pair — it plots low-income enrolment against graduate earnings, which is exactly where these two schools disagree.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tufts or Boston College harder to get into?
Tufts, clearly. It admits 10.8% of applicants against Boston College’s 16.2%, from a similar-sized pool. Test ranges are almost identical at the two schools, so the difference is in selectivity, not in the scores admitted students hold.
Do Boston College or Tufts graduates earn more?
Boston College, by $20,723 at the median — $103,937 against $83,214 ten years after enrolling. Tufts leads on mobility, though: students from the lowest-income third earn $135,600 against BC’s $94,900 ten years after entry.
Which is cheaper, Tufts or Boston College?
They are close on average, at $39,998 and $41,704 after aid. For families earning under $30,000, Boston College is far cheaper — $4,284 against Tufts’s $11,284.
Do Tufts and Boston College have Early Decision?
Both do, and both are binding, so only one can receive your Early Decision application. Both rate demonstrated interest important, so an early application reads as a meaningful signal at either school.
Is Tufts or Boston College better?
Neither, in general. Tufts is harder to enter, runs smaller classes and does more for low-income students’ earnings. Boston College posts higher median earnings, costs far less on a low income and admits a larger share of applicants.
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