Emerson College Overview
Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson College is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of Emerson is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.
What Is Emerson College Known For?
- The 3% student loan default rate at Emerson is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The master's degree is the highest award offered at Emerson.
- In 2017-2018, 41% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from Emerson with a bachelor's degree make about $46,600 a year. That's 14% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- The average Emerson student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
Featured schools near , edit

Emerson College Rankings
Emerson landed the #205 spot in our 2022 ranking of best colleges. We analyzed 2,587 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Emerson has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#168 | 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 Emerson.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Emerson has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Musical Theater Schools | College Factual |
#21 | Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools | College Factual |
#37 | Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools | College Factual |
#50 | Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools | College Factual |
#80 | Best Healthcare Schools | Healthcare Degree Search |
#85 | Best Health Professions Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Emerson College?

Contact details for Emerson are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 120 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116-4624 |
Phone: | 617-824-8500 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/EmersonCollege |
Twitter: | http://twitter.com/EmersonCollege |
How Do I Get Into Emerson?
You can apply to Emerson online at: www.commonapp.org/
Admission Requirements for Emerson
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Emerson?
Approximately 31% of accepted students are men and 69% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 42%, and the acceptance rate for women is 41%.
Average Test Scores
About 64% of students accepted to Emerson submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 610 and 690. Math scores were between 580 and 690.
Can I Afford Emerson College?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Emerson, approximately 49% of students took out student loans averaging $13,791 a year. That adds up to $55,164 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Emerson is 2.5%. 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.
Emerson College Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 1,407 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,626 full-time undergraduates at Emerson, 37% are male and 63% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Emerson College students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 186 |
Black or African American | 147 |
Hispanic or Latino | 454 |
White | 2,126 |
International Students | 480 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 233 |
Geographic Diversity
Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Emerson College. At this time, 41 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 70 countries are represented at Emerson. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Taiwan, and India.
Online Learning at Emerson College
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Emerson has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 47th most popular in Massachusetts for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Emerson
The following table shows how Emerson is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Radio, Television & Digital Communication | #16 | #16 |
Journalism | #27 | #27 |
Communication Sciences | #40 | #40 |
Writing Studies | #67 | #67 |
Online Growth Rankings of Emerson
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Emerson College was 746.9%. This is the #117 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Emerson regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Emerson majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Communication & Journalism | 6% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Emerson ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Emerson.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Radio, Television & Digital Communication | #7 | |
Communication & Journalism | #13 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Emerson College Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
Major | Bachelor’s | Master’s | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 422 | 0 | 422 |
Drama & Theater Arts | 119 | 19 | 138 |
Writing Studies | 97 | 34 | 131 |
Marketing | 64 | 52 | 116 |
Journalism | 78 | 13 | 91 |
Communication Sciences | 12 | 43 | 55 |
Communication & Media Studies | 36 | 18 | 54 |
Public Relations & Advertising | 28 | 23 | 51 |
Publishing | 0 | 44 | 44 |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | 11 | 33 | 44 |
General Business/Commerce | 33 | 0 | 33 |
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies | 17 | 0 | 17 |
Radio, Television & Digital Communication | 2 | 8 | 10 |
Business/Corporate Communications | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Music | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Graphic Communications | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 920 | 288 | 1,208 |
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 McDonald & Gill under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
![]() |
Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More > |