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College of the Holy Cross

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College of the Holy Cross Overview

College of the Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Worcester, Massachusetts. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life.

What Is College of the Holy Cross Known For?

877 Undergraduate Awards
$49,046 Avg Cost After Aid
38% Acceptance Rate
  • Holy Cross has an impressive student to faculty ratio of 10 to 1.
  • The student loan default rate at Holy Cross is 1%, which is significantly lower than the national rate of 10.1%. That's great news for students who are worrying about paying off their student loans.
  • The highest award offered at Holy Cross is the bachelor's degree.
  • For the 2019-2020 academic year, 89% of the faculty were full-time.
  • After graduation, Holy Cross bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $84,653 a year. That's about 107% more than their peers at other schools.
  • The average Holy Cross student graduates in 4.0 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.

Best Schools

College of the Holy Cross Rankings

We have ranked Holy Cross as #35 out of 2,018 colleges and universities in the country in our 2023 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation. It is also ranked #5 out of 57 schools in Massachusetts.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Holy Cross has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#40 Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Holy Cross.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#4 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#4 Best Music Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#6 Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#6 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#11 Best Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Accounting Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#14 Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best Biological & Biomedical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#23 Best Psychology Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Holy Cross has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#18 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools College Factual
#28 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools College Factual
#31 Best History Schools College Factual
#37 Best Business Bachelor’s Degree Schools Business Degree Central
#48 Best General Psychology Schools College Factual
#70 Best Psychology Schools College Factual

Where Is College of the Holy Cross?

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Contact details for Holy Cross are given below.

Contact Details
Address: One College Street, Worcester, MA 01610-2395
Phone: 508-793-2011
Website: www.holycross.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collegeoftheholycross
Twitter: https://twitter.com/holy_cross

How Do I Get Into Holy Cross?

You can apply to Holy Cross online at: https://www.holycross.edu/admissions-aid/apply

Admission Requirements for Holy Cross

Submission Required?
High School GPA recommended
High School Rank recommended
High School Transcript required
College Prep Program recommended
Recommendations required
SAT or ACT Scores considered but not required
TOEFL required

How Hard Is It To Get Into Holy Cross?

38% Acceptance Rate
55% Of Accepted Are Women
40% Submit SAT Scores
You'll need to do what you can to make your application stand out if you plan to apply to Holy Cross. The school screens its applicants carefully and has a fairly low acceptance rate of 38%. So, don't just throw your admission packet together at the last minute!

Approximately 45% of accepted students are men and 55% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 38%, and the acceptance rate for women is 38%.

Average Test Scores

About 40% of students accepted to Holy Cross submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 640 and 710. Math scores were between 650 and 720.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for College of the Holy Cross  ( 640 to 710 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for College of the Holy Cross  ( 650 to 720 )
200
800
Holy Cross received ACT scores from 19% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 29 and 35. Math scores were between 26 and 30. Composite scores were between 29 and 32.

ACT English Scores for College of the Holy Cross  ( 29 to 35 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for College of the Holy Cross  ( 26 to 30 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for College of the Holy Cross  ( 29 to 32 )
1
36

Can I Afford College of the Holy Cross?

$49,046 Net Price
49% Take Out Loans
1.2% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of Holy Cross is $49,046. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Holy Cross, approximately 49% of students took out student loans averaging $6,407 a year. That adds up to $25,628 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Holy Cross is 1.2%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

College of the Holy Cross Undergraduate Student Diversity

2,966 Full-Time Undergraduates
55% Women
22% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 2,970 undergraduate students at Holy Cross, with 2,966 being full-time and 4 being part-time.

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Gender Diversity

Of the 2,966 full-time undergraduates at Holy Cross, 45% are male and 55% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of College of the Holy Cross students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 123
Black or African American 127
Hispanic or Latino 325
White 2,137
International Students 88
Other Races/Ethnicities 166

Geographic Diversity

Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at College of the Holy Cross. At this time, 32 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 18 countries are represented at Holy Cross. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Canada, and South Korea.

Online Learning at College of the Holy Cross

0 Took All Classes Online

College of the Holy Cross Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s TOTAL
Economics 140 140
General Psychology 115 115
Political Science & Government 110 110
General English Literature 59 59
History 55 55
General Biology 52 52
Mathematics 41 41
Sociology 32 32
International Studies 29 29
Chemistry 29 29
Accounting 24 24
Romance Languages 21 21
Computer Science 17 17
Philosophy 16 16
Classical Languages & Literature 15 15
Natural Resources Conservation 12 12
Physics 12 12
Drama & Theater Arts 12 12
Fine & Studio Arts 12 12
Music 12 12
Area Studies 10 10
Neurobiology & Neurosciences 8 8
Anthropology 8 8
Architectural History 7 7
East Asian Languages 6 6
Germanic Languages 6 6
Slavic, Baltic & Albanian Languages 6 6
Religious Studies 5 5
Public Policy 2 2
Ethnic Studies 1 1
Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution 1 1
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1 1
General Visual & Performing Arts 1 1
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 0 0
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 0 0
Teacher Education Grade Specific 0 0
Writing Studies 0 0
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 0 0
Statistics 0 0
Medieval Studies 0 0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0
Dance 0 0
TOTAL 877 877

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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