Quad

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    U. Southern California grads earn $9.3K more ten years out than Boston's ($92,498 vs. $83,238)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  2. 2

    U. Southern California graduates 6 pts more of its students than Boston (93% vs. 87%)

    Graduation rate

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
U. Southern California$92.5K
Boston$83.2K
Graduation rate
U. Southern California93%
Boston87%
Retention rate
U. Southern California95%
Boston95%

Borrowing

Median debt
U. Southern California$18K
Boston$23.3K
Undergrads with a federal loan
U. Southern California24%
Boston23%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
U. Southern California$17.1K
Boston$21.9K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
U. Southern California83%
Boston80%
Credential within 8 years, all students
U. Southern California93%
Boston86%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
U. Southern California3%
Boston9%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
U. Southern California90%
Boston89%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
U. Southern California92%
Boston88%
Pell graduation gap
U. Southern California2 pts lower
Boston1 pts higher

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupU. Southern CaliforniaBoston
White92%90%
Asian95%91%
Hispanic/Latino91%86%
Black85%85%
Two or more races92%86%
International91%87%

On-time progress, from the colleges' Common Data Sets

Finished withinU. Southern CaliforniaBoston
4 years: Pell recipientsNot published82%
4 years: neither Pell nor subsidized loanNot published79%
4 years: all first-time full-timeNot published81%
5 years: Pell recipientsNot published87%
5 years: neither Pell nor subsidized loanNot published87%
5 years: all first-time full-timeNot published87%

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;University of Southern California Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;Boston University Common Data Set 2024–25, Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why