Bentley University
Waltham, Massachusetts | Admissions Phone: 781-891-2244
E-mail: ugadmission@bentley.edu | Website: www.bentley.edu
ADMISSION
Admission Rate: 43%
Admission Rate - Men: 40%
Admission Rate - Women: 49%
EA Admission Rate: Not Offered
ED Admission Rate: 69%
Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): -1%
ED Admission Rate (5-Year Trend): Not Offered
% of Admits Attending (Yield): 28%
Transfer Admission Rate: 52%
# Offered Wait List: 1,659
# Accepted Wait List: 534
# Admitted Wait List: 1
SAT Reading/Writing (Middle 50%): 600-680
SAT Math (Middle 50%): 640-730
ACT Composite (Middle 50%): 28-32
Testing Policy: ACT/SAT Required
SAT Superscore: Yes
ACT Superscore: Yes
% Graduated in Top 10% of HS Class: 50%
% Graduated in Top 25% of HS Class: 89%
% Graduated in Top 50% of HS Class: 98%
ENROLLMENT
Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 4,253
% Part-Time: 2%
% Male: 60%
% Female: 40%
% Out-of-State: 50%
% Fraternity: 4%
% Sorority: 7%
% On-Campus (Freshman): 97%
% On-Campus (All Undergraduate): 78%
% African-American: 4%
% Asian: 10%
% Hispanic: 8%
% White: 69%
% Other: 3%
% Race or Ethnicity Unknown: 5%
% International: 16%
% Low-Income: 14%
ACADEMICS
Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 11:1
% of Classes Under 20: 21%
% of Classes Under 40: 93%
% Full-Time Faculty: 63%
% Full-Time Faculty w/ Terminal Degree: 54%
Top Programs
Accounting
Data Analytics
Finance
Management
Managerial Economics
Marketing
Professional Sales
Retention Rate: 93%
4-Year Graduation Rate: 82%
6-Year Graduation Rate: 91%
Curricular Flexibility: Less Flexible
Academic Rating: 
FINANCIAL
Institutional Type: Private
In-State Tuition: $51,830
Out-of-State Tuition: $51,830
Room & Board: $16,960
Required Fees: N/A
Books & Supplies: $1,300
Avg. Need-Based Aid: $37,997
Avg. % of Need Met: 95%
Avg. Merit-Based Aid: 10,128
% Receiving Merit-Based Aid: 22%
Avg. Cumulative Debt: $30,997
% of Students Borrowing: 57%
CAREER
Who Recruits
1. Cognex Corporation
2. Boston Scientific
3. Grant Thornton LLP
4. P&G Gillette
5. Lincoln Financial Group
Notable Internships
1. Liberty Mutual Investments
2. KPMG
3. L’Oreal
Top Industries
1. Business
2. Finance
3. Accounting
4. Sales
5. Operations
Top Employers
1. Fidelity Investments
2. PwC
3. Liberty Mutual Insurance
4. EY
5. State Street
Where Alumni Work
1. Boston
2. New York City
3. Hartford
4. San Francisco
5. Providence
Median Earnings
College Scorecard (Early Career): $86,900
EOP (Early Career): $79,800
PayScale (Mid-Career): $116,600
RANKINGS
Forbes: 107
Money: 88
U.S. News: 2, Regional North
Wall Street Journal/THE: 134 (T)
Washington Monthly: N/A
Inside the Classroom
Situated just west of Boston, Bentley University is one of the premier business-focused institutions in the country. Rival Babson College is only ten miles away geographically, but the two schools used to be a much greater distance apart in reputation and prestige. That gap has closed quickly in recent years. The school’s 4,200 undergraduate students traversing this attractive 163-acre Waltham, Massachusetts, campus are, somewhat surprisingly, exposed to a top-notch liberal arts education while working toward a BA or BS in a business-related field. Of the twenty-five majors and thirty-six minors to choose from, a handful are non-business concentrations such as English, philosophy, and history. These students typically supplement their education with a healthy number of business courses. The majority take the opposite path, majoring in business and supplementing their studies with liberal arts courses. Always innovating, the school recently started three cutting-edge majors in data analytics, professional sales, and creative industries. Regardless of one’s major, the core curriculum consisting of sixteen mandatory courses must be tackled. That includes a first-year seminar, information technology and computer system concepts, a sequence of two expository writing classes as well as courses in math, the hard sciences, government, and history.
Earning a Bentley degree is far from a passive experience. The average undergraduate class is comprised of twenty-six students, and academics are intense. Twenty percent of the student body is double majoring, tacking the liberal studies major on to their business concentration. Roughly half of Bentley students elect to study abroad in one of eighty programs spread across twenty-five countries. Just about everyone lands an internship; the majority of students complete two. Undergraduate research participation has increased in recent years as the school has joined The Council on Undergraduate Research. While not a focal point of the school, it is possible to land a position assisting a faculty member with a research project at some point during your four years on campus.
Bentley is a school on the rise. Having just celebrated its one-hundred-year anniversary, it has become a highly-respected name in the corporate world and possesses an international reach. The most popular majors are all within the business domain and include finance, business, management, marketing, accounting, and poetry—just kidding on that last one. Bentley is a one-trick pony, and that’s not a bad thing when you examine the outcomes data for recent graduates (more ahead).
Outside the Classroom
A bastion for extraverts, 90 percent of Bentley undergrads belong to at least one student organization; one-third consider themselves “highly involved.” Over one hundred clubs and activities are available with a multitude of options in the academic, cultural, religious, arts and media, and recreational realms. Participation in athletics is high. The Falcons compete in eleven men’s and ten women’s sports in NCAA Division II (men’s ice hockey is the lone Division I team). Intramural and club sports are popular, including ultimate Frisbee, sailing, rugby, and equestrian. More than 1,700 students participate in an intramural sport each year. With 78 percent of students living in school-owned housing, most social events are centered on campus. Fraternity and sorority life attract a significant but not dominant 17 percent of undergraduates. Additionally, some students live in defined communities—residential housing for those passionate about areas such as women’s leadership, social justice, or service learning. Waltham, also home to Brandeis University, is a historic and pretty New England town with plenty of bars, restaurants, and other attractions. The university is only thirteen miles from downtown Boston, and the school provides free public transportation to-and-from Harvard Square.
Career Services
The Career Services Office at Bentley has thirteen professional staff members who work with the college’s undergraduates. That equates to a 323:1 student-to-advisor ratio, placing the university in the average range compared to other schools featured in this guide. Career services may be average in this category, but it is exceptional by just about every other metric. For example, the staff does an incredible job facilitating meaningful internships. Of the 92 percent of Bentley students who had an internship (71 percent complete more than one) as part of their undergraduate education, 37 percent landed their first job directly through this experience. On-campus recruiting events led another 18 percent of employed graduates to their first employment destination, and a sizable number of students also found their way through alumni networking, school-organized career fairs, and referrals from the school. The school has developed close corporate partnerships with companies including Dell, Fidelity Investments, Liberty Mutual, and United Technologies, all of whom hire their fair share of graduates each year.
Offerings include career development seminars that begin freshman year; 97 percent of first-years sign up for the introductory class. Those seminars are part of the school’s larger Hire Education Program that helps students formulate career goals, hone job-readiness skills, and build professional networks. The Mentor Marketplace is an online tool that helps connect current students with alumni who work in a relevant field to serve as a career resource. In addition to the full internships taken advantage of by the bulk of the student body, Bentley also offers micro-internships in which alumni can bring in undergraduates to work on short-term, impactful projects within their company. Taking into account the breadth and quality of its services as well as the stellar outcomes achieved by its graduates, Bentley has as high quality of a Career Services Office as you will find anywhere in the country.
Professional Outcomes
A superb 99 percent of 2018 Bentley grads were employed or in graduate school six months after receiving their diplomas. The financial services and technology sectors each account for 22 percent of new hires. Most job functions are in the areas of finance, sales, accounting, analytics, marketing, consulting, and operations/logistics. A hub of entrepreneurship, the school saw 7 percent of its graduating class start their own businesses right out of college. Companies employing the highest number of alumni include Fidelity Investments, PwC, EY, Dell EMC, and Wayfair. The median starting salary for graduates is $59,000, a strong figure compared to other universities of its ilk. By midcareer, Bentley grads have a median income similar to Harvard and Tufts alumni.
Bentley does not see a high number of graduates directly enter graduate school—roughly 10 percent in any given year. While many pursue MBAs or other advanced business degrees later in their careers, those in this field typically gain work experience prior to attending graduate school. Recent graduates have ended up in advanced degree programs at elite business schools like Wharton (Penn), Stern (NYU), Columbia Business School, Yale School of Management, Sloane School of Management (MIT), and the Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth). Whether entering graduate school or chasing their first job, the vast majority of Falcons stay in the Boston area. New York City and San Francisco are the next two most popular US destinations; there is also a large cluster of graduates settled in Brazil, a country from which the university attracts a large number of international students.
Admission
In the 2017-18 admissions cycle Bentley accepted 43 percent of the 9,252 who applied. Members of the Class of 2022 averaged 1321 on the SAT and 29 on the ACT. For perspective, in 2011 the acceptance rate was a nearly identical 46 percent, but the 75th percentile on the SAT was a 1300. The percent of students ranking in the top 10 percent (50 percent) and 25 percent (89 percent) of their high school classes has risen sharply in that same time. Therefore, we can deduce that while acceptance rates have stayed relatively similar at Bentley in recent years, the standardized test scores and grades needed to gain acceptance have risen significantly.
Test scores, grades (including an emphasis on senior year grades), two letters of recommendation, and an on-campus interview are all important components of the admissions process. While the interviews are not mandatory, they can be an excellent opportunity to highlight interpersonal skills and intangible attributes that a top business school like Bentley is seeking. With a relatively low yield of 28 percent, Bentley is competing with many other rival institutions for the same pool of students. Thus, it makes sense that the school accepts 69 percent of applicants through its binding early decision program. It locks down just short of one-quarter of its incoming freshman class via ED. Bentley is a competitive business school and is a notch easier to gain admission into than comparable Babson. Demonstrating interest and/or applying early is a strong strategic move for serious applicants.
Worth Your Money?
Forty-two percent of Bentley’s 4,171 undergraduates qualify for financial aid, and 39 percent of that group sees 100 percent of their demonstrated need met by the university. The average annual grant is for just over $38k, helping to alleviate the pain of the $71,320 per year cost of attendance. To help lessen the cost, even for families who can pay, 20 percent of undergrads receive a merit-based award of roughly $9,000. Even at that high cost, Bentley is worth the money for most applicants. The school rates very well in terms of pure salary—both starting and midcareer—and it rates well for social mobility, allowing those from poor-to-modest backgrounds to climb the economic ladder.