Doctoral/ProfessionalPrivate nonprofit

Lesley University

Cambridge, Massachusetts·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·New England·lesley.edu
6-yr Graduation
58%
-4.5pp vs Doctoral/Professional
Total enrollment
2,557
peer median 3,137
Avg net price
$31,805
+$2.2k vs Doctoral/Professional
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
2,526
2,526 candidates competed
Admitted
2,447
96.9% acceptance rate
Enrolled
193
7.9% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
58%-4.5pp vs Doctoral/Professional
4-year graduation
43%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
58%
Full-time retention
72%

Pell equity

2.0pp gap
Pell recipients
56%
Non-Pell
58%

Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 71 Title IV programs, 21 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 49 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
71
Passing
21
29.6% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
1
1.4% of portfolio
Fail rate
1.4%
+0.8pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

71programs
  • Passing21 · 29.6%
  • No Data49 · 69.0%
  • Failing1 · 1.4%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
1
At Risk
3
Watch
4
Safe
14
No data
49

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.

22
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
-1.9%
$60,700 vs $61,854
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
+1.5%
$50,236 vs $49,483
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+4.7%
$41,320 vs $39,449
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions
Bachelor Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
+9.3%
$43,129 vs $39,449
Design and Applied Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+14.3%
$45,099 vs $39,449
Liberal Arts and Sciences General Studies and Humanities
Bachelor Degree · Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
+14.8%
$45,293 vs $39,449
Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+15.4%
$45,508 vs $39,449
Visual and Performing Arts General
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+24.7%
$49,175 vs $39,449

Near the line (±5%)

Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.

3
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
-1.9%
$1,154
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
+1.5%
+$753
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
+4.7%
+$1,871

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

22
Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions
Master's Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences
112%
$67,701 debt · $60,700 earn
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Master's Degree · English Language And Literature/Letters
82%
$41,000 debt · $50,236 earn
Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods
Master's Degree · Education
63%
$36,874 debt · $58,844 earn
Fine and Studio Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
59%
$24,400 debt · $41,320 earn
Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies
Master's Degree · Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
59%
$41,000 debt · $69,678 earn
Fine and Studio Arts
Master's Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
56%
$41,000 debt · $73,492 earn
Film/Video and Photographic Arts
Bachelor Degree · Visual And Performing Arts
55%
$25,000 debt · $45,508 earn
Education General
Doctoral Degree · Education
54%
$57,660 debt · $107,723 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

New England Commission of Higher Education

Accredited since 1952Next review Dec 2026

Programmatic accreditations · 3

Action history · 2

  1. Nov 2015Renewal of Accreditation
    New England Commission of Higher Education
  2. Aug 2014Change in Agency recognition
    National Association of Schools of Art and Design, Commission on Accreditation · Art and Design (ART) - Degree-granting schools and departments and non-degree-granting programs

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$26,173
$30–48k$27,225
$48–75k$31,594
$75–110k$34,465
$110k+$34,726

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$31,805
+$2,196vs Doctoral/Professional median $29,609
Federal loans
51.3%
In-state tuition
$32,780
Out-of-state
$32,780

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 495 students received $2.6M in Pell grants, alongside $20.8M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
495
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$2.6M
$2,584,729 total
Direct Loans
$20.8M
2,119 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

1k
20
1k
21
0k
22
0k
23
0k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$2.3M
573 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$2.5M
655 loan awards
Unsubsidized · Grad$10.3M
629 loan awards
Parent PLUS$2.5M
104 loan awards
Grad PLUS$3.1M
158 loan awards

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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 1,262 borrowers who entered repayment, 19 (1.5%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.5%
-0.8pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
1,262
Defaulted
19
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
3.0%
2017
4.4%
2018
3.2%
2019
1.5%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* 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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Lesley

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs75
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

885 total completions
01Health Professions
25028.2%
02Education
24828.0%
03Visual/Performing Arts
14716.6%
04Psychology
738.2%
05Liberal Arts
525.9%
06English Language
404.5%
07Public Admin
232.6%
08Multi/Interdisciplinary
192.1%
09Business
182.0%
10Mathematics
151.7%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
2,557
12-mo unduplicated
4,431
Undergraduate
1,679
Graduate
2,752

Gender split

Men
20%878
Women
80%3,553

Race / ethnicity composition

White
53.0%
Hispanic
18.6%
Black
8.4%
Unknown
6.3%
Asian
5.4%
Two or more
4.4%
Non-resident
3.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native
0.5%

Athletics & Title IX gender equity

How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.

Athletes
157
83 M · 74 W
Women athletes
47.1%
Athletic aid
$0
Total student aid
Budget
$856K
Total expenses

Men vs women · spending splits

Athletic student aid
$0
$0
Recruiting expense
$11K
$13K
Head-coach salaries
$11K
$10K
Men Women

Sport-by-sport · 7

Soccer
21 M · 28 W
$90K
Baseball
35 M ·
$64K
Track and Field and Cross Country (combined)
14 M · 18 W
$54K
Basketball
17 M · 8 W
$61K
Tennis
8 M · 7 W
$27K
Softball
· 15 W
$33K

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students
3.52
12 offenses · 3,406 students

3-year trend

2.382 yrs ago2.241 yr ago3.52Latest
Offenses · 3-yr
31
Last three years
VAWA · 3-yr
18
DV, dating, stalking
Hate crimes · 3-yr
0
Res-hall fires · 3-yr
0

Criminal offenses by type

Rape
5
Fondling
4
Burglary
3

By location

12total
  • On campus11
  • Public property1

Includes 4 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).

VAWA offenses

0
Domestic violence
1
Dating violence
4
Stalking
5 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals
Weapons00
Drugs02
Liquor016

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
10.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
95

Lesley vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Lesley selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

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
SubjectLesley University
58%2,557$31,805Doctoral/Professional
Western New England University
64%83.5%3,674$31,170Doctoral/Professional
Simmons University
72%70.0%4,666$27,313Doctoral/Professional
Springfield College
74%71.9%2,599$29,187Doctoral/Professional
Suffolk University
61%82.3%6,356$30,031Doctoral/Professional
American International College
46%99.6%2,037$25,299Doctoral/Professional
Peer group median63%82.3%3,137$29,609

Frequently asked questions about Lesley University

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Lesley.

What is the graduation rate at Lesley University?

Lesley University reports a 6-year graduation rate of 58% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Lesley University?

Lesley University reports a total enrollment of 2,557 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Lesley University?

The average net price at Lesley University is $31,805 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Lesley University?

Lesley University's yield rate is 7.9%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Lesley University located?

Lesley University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138-2790.

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