+15%
In-state tuition
In-state tuition at Boston College rose 15% between 2021 and 2024 ($61.7k → $70.7k).
Massachusetts · Private nonprofit · Predominantly bachelor's
BC
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. 9,865 undergraduate students. 128 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at BC
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
-100%
3-year cohort default rate
3-year cohort default rate at Boston College fell 100% between 2021 and 2024 (0.5% → 0.0%).
+15%
Out-of-state tuition
Out-of-state tuition at Boston College rose 15% between 2021 and 2024 ($61.7k → $70.7k).
+12%
Median federal debt at exit
Median federal debt at exit at Boston College rose 12% between 2017 and 2020 ($16.9k → $19.0k).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Massachusetts
Each tile compares this institution to the Massachusetts median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$103,937+21% · 6→10y
Massachusetts median $56,022$85,717
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry91.0%+7% · '97→'24
Massachusetts median 66.5%$17,962+18% · '97→'20
At program completion9,865-0% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS95.4%-0% · '04→'09
first-time, full-time15.7%-51% · '01→'24
latest cohort$67,680+204% · '00→'24
out-of-state $67,680SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
2.3%Median federal debt $17,962 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $103,937 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+204%
BC · in-state tuition rose
$23,270 → $70,702
+204%
BC · out-of-state tuition rose
$23,270 → $70,702
-100%
BC · cohort default rate fell
2.2% → 0.0%
+53%
BC · earnings_median_8yr rose
$58,700 → $89,620
+72%
BC · earnings_median_6yr rose
$49,700 → $85,717
SECTION 05 · PROGRAMS
Ranked by 5-year earnings
Each row is one (CIP × credential) program reported by the institution in College Scorecard's Field-of-Study data. Cohort floor is 30 students; below this, federal data is suppressed.
Finance and Financial Management Services.$182,242Business Administration, Management and Operations.$177,630Law.$175,793Computer Science.$155,305Educational Administration and Supervision.$146,147Finance and Financial Management Services.$135,373Information Science/Studies.$132,170Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$129,343Accounting and Related Services.$122,243Marketing.$113,453Mathematics.$113,093Economics.$112,774Accounting and Related Services.$110,260Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.$97,435Business Administration, Management and Operations.$94,664Political Science and Government.$90,434Business Operations Support and Assistant Services.$89,051Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.$84,188Sociology.$83,459Communication and Media Studies.$81,317International/Global Studies.$81,227Biology, General.$80,290Educational Administration and Supervision.$78,101Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.$76,000
Showing top 24 of 38 ranked programs.
SECTION 06 · BY CIP FAMILY
38 programs with earnings, grouped
Programs are grouped by 2-digit CIP family. Programs without reported earnings are hidden to keep the list focused.
COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCES · CIP 11
EDUCATION · CIP 13
Curriculum and Instruction.$64,269Educational Administration and Supervision.$78,101Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.$66,826Educational Administration and Supervision.$146,147Special Education and Teaching.$70,475Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.$71,276
FOREIGN LANGUAGES · CIP 16
LEGAL PROFESSIONS · CIP 22
ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE · CIP 23
BIOLOGICAL & BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES · CIP 26
MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS · CIP 27
MULTI/INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES · CIP 30
PHILOSOPHY & RELIGIOUS STUDIES · CIP 38
THEOLOGY & RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS · CIP 39
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & SOCIAL SERVICES · CIP 44
SOCIAL SCIENCES · CIP 45
HEALTH PROFESSIONS · CIP 51
BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT & MARKETING · CIP 52
Finance and Financial Management Services.$135,373Business Administration, Management and Operations.$177,630Marketing.$113,453Accounting and Related Services.$122,243Business Administration, Management and Operations.$94,664Finance and Financial Management Services.$182,242Accounting and Related Services.$110,260Business Operations Support and Assistant Services.$89,051
HISTORY · CIP 54
COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM · CIP 09
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at BC
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
NET PRESENT VALUE
$1,166,953
Over 40 years, discounted 5.0%
BREAKEVEN
Year 5
First year cumulative discounted earnings cross zero
- Cost per year
- $12,554
- HS-only baseline · MA
- $42,600
- Years to complete
- 4
- CIP family
- 45
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Massachusetts
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“BC graduates earn $X” — not “BC makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending BC caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.