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Berklee College of Music

MA · Private nonprofit · Large city · 7,167 applicants 2023

50% admit rate $54,676/yr at $110k+ income
Get your child's odds at Berklee College of Music Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. Berklee College of Music starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Match

Solid match for academically prepared students. Expect a high net price across most income brackets.

✅ Best for

  • Students focused on Visual & Performing Arts (the school's signature program)

🎯 The reality

  • High cost — aid-receiving families above $110K income still average ~$54,676/yr net, and without need aid the full price is ~$72,700/yr — verify the major's earnings track record before committing

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Total enrollment
7,468
5,000 - 9,999
TuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$52,040
flat rate (no in/out-of-state split)
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
49.9%
Moderately selective
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$33,647
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$26,462
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$33,647
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
67%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$25,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $54,676/yr at Berklee College of Music; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$72,700/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with Berklee College of Music's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$54,676/yr
Family income $75-110k
$46,801/yr
Family income $48-75k
$47,799/yr
Family income $30-48k
$37,987/yr
Family income $0-30k
$42,734/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

1.2× at full price 1.7× with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs)
$290,800
~$72,700/yr all-in
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$197,860
$49,465/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$336,470
$33,647/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
8.6 yrs
at full price (5.9 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at Berklee College of Music

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Berklee College of Music actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Visual & Performing Arts
807 degrees · 56.0%
Highly variable. Steady-pay roles cluster in design, illustration, production. Performance careers have very wide income distributions.
2. Computer & Information Sciences
391 degrees · 27.1%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.
3. Engineering Technologies
190 degrees · 13.2%
Technician-track engineering roles. Strong wages, faster ramp than full engineer path.
4. Health Professions
42 degrees · 2.9%
Highest-paying group on this list, but most careers require additional training beyond a 4-year degree.
5. Education
12 degrees · 0.8%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.

💼 What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Berklee College of Music's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management. Bachelor's Degree 167 $40,324 $59,703
Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians, Other. Bachelor's Degree 174 $26,827 $48,069
Computer Software and Media Applications. Bachelor's Degree 379 $19,370 $40,186
Music. Bachelor's Degree 656 $18,177 $38,617
Visual and Performing Arts, Other. Bachelor's Degree — $13,771 $37,117
Dance. Bachelor's Degree 20 $22,993 $35,702

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

📈 Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
5.4%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
0.7%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
19.6%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
16%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Berklee College of Music

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of South Carolina-Columbia
SC · Public
8 stats-based + 3 competitive scholarships
Auburn University
AL · Public
3 stats-based merit scholarships
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
TN · Public
2 stats-based merit scholarships
💰 Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
CUNY Hunter College
NY · Public
$13,905/yr full price (in-state) · $58,795 less before aid
CUNY Lehman College
NY · Public
$14,121/yr full price (in-state) · $58,579 less before aid
CUNY Brooklyn College
NY · Public
$14,151/yr full price (in-state) · $58,549 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
Westfield State University
MA · Public
81% admit rate (vs 50% here)
University of Massachusetts-Boston
MA · Public
83% admit rate (vs 50% here)
Framingham State University
MA · Public
85% admit rate (vs 50% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than Berklee College of Music does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
CUNY Bernard M Baruch College
NY · Public
12.9% mobility rate (vs 0.7% here)
CUNY City College
NY · Public
11.7% mobility rate (vs 0.7% here)
CUNY Lehman College
NY · Public
10.2% mobility rate (vs 0.7% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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