Bowdoin College

Overview

Rankings

• #1 Best Colleges in Maine
• #1 Best Bachelor's Programs in Maine
• #1 Best Master's Programs in Maine
• #1 Best Computer Science Colleges in Maine
• #1 Best Biology Colleges in Maine
• #1 Best Data Science Colleges in Maine
• #3 Best Colleges for Biology
• #3 Best Bachelor's in Biology

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Bowdoin College? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Based in Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin College turns away the vast majority of its applicants. The acceptance rate is 7%. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,520. The graduation rate is roughly 95%.

Acceptance Rate

7%

Retention Rate

97%

SAT Average

1520

SAT Range

1470–1550

ACT Range

33–35

Full-Time Faculty

89%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$14,216

Student–Faculty Ratio

9:1

Diversity Index

0.67

First-Gen Students

19%

Applicants

9,376

Admitted

862

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2025-26

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Bowdoin College 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. 54% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school more than half of admitted students choose.

Yield Rate

54%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

35%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

17%

of enrolled freshmen

Early Decision Admit Rate

14.9%

vs 6.8% overall

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Bowdoin College? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Bowdoin College is $67,832, 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 $14,398. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $3,145 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $18,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$67,832

Out-of-State

$67,832

Avg Net Price

$14,398

Median Debt

$18,500

Pell Grant Rate

17%

Federal Loan Rate

8%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Bowdoin College — 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 Bowdoin College Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Bowdoin College earn a median of $82,735, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$61,692

8 Years

$79,520

10 Years

$82,735

Debt-to-Earnings

0.22x

Earning > $25K

80%

Social Mobility

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

Does Bowdoin College Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Bowdoin College is a measurable contributor to upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 1.09%, in line with strong performers nationally. Access is narrower: only about 2.6% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 41.5% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $177,600, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

1.09%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

41.5%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

2.6%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$241,296

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Bowdoin College? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Bowdoin College. Its economic connectedness score is 1.81, 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 10% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.81

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

10.4%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Innovation & Knowledge Creation

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

Bowdoin College produces inventors at an above-average rate (top 21% nationally), with 41 patents tied to its graduates.

Inventor Rate

1.14%

Top 21% nationally

Patents Produced

41

Linked to graduates

Patent Citations

52

Downstream influence

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$4,820,000

Investment Income

$-201,328,000

Top Programs

The fields Bowdoin College 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.

• Social Sciences 34% $84,379 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 21% $46,879 early-career
• Physical Sciences 9%
• Computer Science & IT 8% $123,800 early-career
• Psychology 5% $53,434 early-career
• Mathematics & Statistics 4% $79,729 early-career
• English & Literature 4% $27,056 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 2% $36,562 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.