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?

• 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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

Can I Afford College of the Holy Cross?

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

There are 2,970 undergraduate students at Holy Cross, with 2,966 being full-time and 4 being part-time.

Gender Diversity

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

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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

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.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By George Rypysc III under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.