College profile
Wellesley College
MA · Private nonprofit · Large suburb · 8,184 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Phillips Academy (Andover) (5), Boston Latin School (3), Millburn High School (3), Princeton High School (3), Emma Willard School (2.5). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 114 high schools' lists name Wellesley College; every one is ranked below.
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer and Information Sciences grads from here earn about $177,213 four years out; research and experimental psychology grads about $52,538 — a 3.4× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 11 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
- Almost everyone who starts here finishes. 92% graduate within six years — the standard federal measure. Nationally about a third of students who start a bachelor's never finish one, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision: the debt stays, the credential doesn't.
- Your price depends enormously on whether you qualify for aid. Families who receive aid average about $25,496/yr here; without aid it's the full ~$86,290/yr. There's no income cutoff for aid — qualifying depends on the gap between this college's price and your finances, which is why the college's own net-price calculator — not any average — is the estimate to trust.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Wellesley College?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Wellesley College, from each school's own published list: Phillips Academy (Andover) (5), Boston Latin School (3), Millburn High School (3), Princeton High School (3), Emma Willard School (2.5). 114 high schools' lists name Wellesley College.
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 114 schools, with the class years each list covers
Published, but not ranked — these schools name Wellesley College on a list of where their graduates enrolled whose class years we cannot read ("Since 2023", or no class year printed), so their totals are shown rather than divided: Yorba Linda High School (1, not stated).
How this is counted
114 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Wellesley College on it. Between them they printed 271 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Wellesley College, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 7 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
7 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Wellesley College on it. Between them they printed 18 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Wellesley College, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 119 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
Highly selectiveHighly selective reach for nearly every applicant.
Best for
- Strong academic profiles — students here cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
- Students drawn to Social Sciences or Biological & Biomedical Sciences (the two biggest majors)
- Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience
- A long-term payoff that holds even at full price — ten years at the $84,803 median runs about $502K ahead of four years at the ~$86,290/yr sticker (aid recipients average ~$25,496/yr)
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 1440, or ACT below 33, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
- With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
- High cost — full price is ~$86,290/yr without aid, and aid-receiving families still average ~$25,496/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 with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
42% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 17% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
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).
The real cost
What Wellesley College actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Wellesley College's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways
+$503K ahead at full price +$746K with aidSource: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. 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 Wellesley College
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Wellesley College actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Wellesley College's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $177,213 |
| Economics. | $121,787 |
| Computer Software and Media Applications. | $98,816 |
| Political Science and Government. | $72,830 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | $65,036 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | $59,865 |
| Biology, General. | $58,285 |
| Research and Experimental Psychology. | $52,538 |
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. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
Alternatives to Wellesley College
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
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Deciding on Wellesley College?
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Related reading
States · October 2026
States · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantWellesley College is a private nonprofit four-year college in MA. It admitted 14% of applicants (8,184 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1440–1550, ACT 33–35. 42% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 17% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: about $25,496 a year on average with aid, $86,290 a year at full price.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $84,803 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $746,046 ahead with aid, $502,870 ahead at full price.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($177,213); Economics ($121,787); Computer Software and Media Applications ($98,816).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 6% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 44% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Wellesley College: 114, 271 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Phillips Academy (Andover) (5.0 per class year, 5 over 1 class year, Class of 2024); Boston Latin School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2021); Millburn High School (3.0 per class year, 3 over 1 class year, Class of 2025, counted column "CLASS OF 2025 ENROLLMENT"). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/wellesley-college.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Wellesley College: 7, 18 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Bronx High School of Science (The) (6.0 per class year, 6 over 1 class year, 2025); Sage Hill School (1.0 per class year, 3 over 3 class years, 2023-2025); The TASIS School in Dorado (1.0 per class year, 1 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/wellesley-college.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/wellesley-college.json
Questions families ask
What is Wellesley College's acceptance rate? Wellesley College is a private nonprofit four-year college in MA. It admitted 14% of applicants (8,184 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Does Wellesley College require the SAT or ACT? Wellesley College is a private nonprofit four-year college in MA. It admitted 14% of applicants (8,184 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
What SAT or ACT scores do Wellesley College students have? Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 1440–1550, ACT 33–35. 42% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 17% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
How much does Wellesley College cost? Cost: about $25,496 a year on average with aid, $86,290 a year at full price.
What do Wellesley College graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $84,803 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $746,046 ahead with aid, $502,870 ahead at full price.
Which majors at Wellesley College pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer and Information Sciences, General ($177,213); Economics ($121,787); Computer Software and Media Applications ($98,816).
Which high schools send the most graduates to Wellesley College? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Wellesley College, from each school's own published list: Phillips Academy (Andover) (5), Boston Latin School (3), Millburn High School (3), Princeton High School (3), Emma Willard School (2.5). 114 high schools' lists name Wellesley College.
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Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.