Bennington College
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 10.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 58 Title IV programs, 2 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 2 fail. 54 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing2 · 3.4%
- No Data54 · 93.1%
- Failing2 · 3.4%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
New England Commission of Higher Education
Action history · 2
- Apr 2020Renewal of AccreditationNew England Commission of Higher Education
- Mar 2010Renewal of AccreditationNew England Commission of Higher Education
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 249 students received $1.5M in Pell grants, alongside $4.9M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 170 borrowers who entered repayment, 3 (1.7%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Bennington College
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus6
Includes 3 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
- Religion2
- Gender identity1
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- bingham1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
- perkins1 fireCookingDamage $0-$99
- Paran Creek1 fireHazardous productDamage $100,000-$249,999
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Bennington College vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Bennington College selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectBennington College | 71% | — | 927 | $31,918 | Baccalaureate |
| 73% | 84.5% | 1,323 | $30,033 | Baccalaureate | |
| 91% | 10.7% | 2,803 | $25,934 | Baccalaureate | |
| 54% | 75.3% | 844 | $25,810 | Baccalaureate | |
| 73% | 67.7% | 1,785 | $30,934 | Baccalaureate | |
| 90% | 13.3% | 1,760 | $30,703 | Baccalaureate | |
| Peer group median | 73% | 67.7% | 1,542 | $30,368 |
Institutions like Bennington College
Explore the federal data for institutions in Bennington College's comparison group.
- BaccalaureateVermont
Saint Michael's College
Grad rate73%Admit rate84.5%Enrollment1,323Net price$30,033View data - BaccalaureateVermont
Middlebury College
Grad rate91%Admit rate10.7%Enrollment2,803Net price$25,934View data - BaccalaureateMassachusetts
Hampshire College
Grad rate54%Admit rate75.3%Enrollment844Net price$25,810View data - BaccalaureateMassachusetts
Wheaton College
Grad rate73%Admit rate67.7%Enrollment1,785Net price$30,934View data - BaccalaureateMaine
Bates College
Grad rate90%Admit rate13.3%Enrollment1,760Net price$30,703View data
Bennington College Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
- David BondDean of Research, Planning, and Assessment
Common Data Set
Bennington College's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C12,996 applied → 1,334 admitted (44.5%) → 154 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Selective — 44.5% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rate varies by gender.
SAT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% SAT 1308–1375 (median 1335).
ACT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% ACT 30–32 (median 32).
High-school class rank
C10Share of enrolled first-years by HS class-rank band.
Waitlist outcome
C280 offered a waitlist spot, 73 accepted it, 20 admitted (27.4% of those who stayed on).
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Affordability & Value
Cost of attendance
GTotal sticker cost of attendance is $93,947 (2025-2026).
Sticker vs. net price
G+HSticker $93,947 → about $40,471 net for aided students after the average need-based grant ($53,476); 89% of demonstrated need is met.
Where grant aid comes from
H193% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H564% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $29,671 on average.
Outcomes & Equity
Graduation & retention
B6-year graduation rate 67%; first-year retention 82%.
Equity: Pell graduation gap
B4Pell-grant recipients graduate 7 pts below the overall rate (60% vs 67%).
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I362% of classes have under 20 students; 1% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~7% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Student Body & Diversity
Undergraduate race/ethnicity
B2Undergraduate enrollment by race/ethnicity.
International students
B212% of undergraduates are international (nonresident).
Undergrad vs graduate
B1797 undergraduates and 130 graduate students.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D1165 transfer applicants → 112 admitted (67.9%) → 57 enrolled
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Bennington College
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