Bentley University

Overview

Rankings

• #1 Best MBA Programs in Massachusetts
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Business
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Accounting
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Finance
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Marketing
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Management
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Human Resources
• #2 Highest-Paying Colleges for Supply Chain Management

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Bentley University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

As a private institution in Waltham, Massachusetts, Bentley University reviews applications selectively. The acceptance rate runs near 45%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,352. The graduation rate is roughly 88%.

Acceptance Rate

45%

Retention Rate

93%

SAT Average

1352

ACT Midpoint

30

SAT Range

1280–1430

ACT Range

28–31

Full-Time Faculty

67%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$15,847

Student–Faculty Ratio

12:1

Diversity Index

0.67

First-Gen Students

16%

Applicants

9,662

Admitted

5,592

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Bentley University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 21% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

21%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

19%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

2%

of enrolled freshmen

Early Decision Admit Rate

61.1%

vs 45.1% overall

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Bentley University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Bentley University is $61,000, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $37,930. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $21,196 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $25,023 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$61,000

Out-of-State

$61,000

Avg Net Price

$37,930

Median Debt

$25,023

Pell Grant Rate

16%

Federal Loan Rate

43%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Bentley University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Bentley University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Bentley University earn a median of $120,959, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$86,679

8 Years

$102,857

10 Years

$120,959

Debt-to-Earnings

0.21x

Earning > $25K

92%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Bentley University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Bentley University is a genuine engine of upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 2.94%, among the highest in the country. About 4.9% of students come from families in the bottom income quintile. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 60.6% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $119,600, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

2.94%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

60.6%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

4.9%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$162,495

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Bentley University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Bentley University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.89, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.00), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 4% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.89

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

3.9%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

Patents, inventors, and research influence · Opportunity Insights & Times Higher Education

Bentley University produces inventors at a measurable rate, with 29 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

0.34%

Top 61% nationally

Patents Produced

29

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

219

Downstream influence

Inventors From Low-Income

0.60%

Bottom-20% families

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Investment Income

$-19,052,000

Top Programs

The fields Bentley University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 90% $94,643 early-career
• Computer Science & IT 6% $88,164 early-career
• Social Sciences 1%
• Communications 0%
• Health Professions 0%
• Psychology 0%
• English & Literature 0%
• Mathematics & Statistics 0% $76,041 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.