Lesley University Overview
Lesley University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The location of Lesley is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.
What Is Lesley University Known For?
- Students who want to work more closely with their professors have an easier time at Lesley since the student to facuty ratio is 9 to 1.
- The 4% student loan default rate at Lesley 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.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Lesley.
- In 2017-2018, 26% of the faculty were full-time.
- The average Lesley student graduates in 4.2 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
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Lesley University Rankings
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.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Lesley.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Lesley has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Multicultural & Diversity Studies Master’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Intercultural/Multicultural & Diversity Studies Master’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#3 | Best History Education Master’s Degree Schools | College Factual |
#34 | Best Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies Schools | College Factual |
#34 | Best Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies Schools | College Factual |
#61 | Best Multi / Interdisciplinary Studies Schools | College Factual |
Where Is Lesley University?

Contact details for Lesley are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 29 Everett St, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790 |
Phone: | 617-868-9600 |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/LesleyUniversity |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/lesley_u |
How Do I Get Into Lesley?
You can apply to Lesley online at: www.lesley.edu/admissions-aid/how-to-apply
Admission Requirements for Lesley
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | neither required nor recommended |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Lesley?
Approximately 22% of accepted students are men and 78% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 76%, and the acceptance rate for women is 86%.
Can I Afford Lesley University?
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 Lesley, approximately 74% of students took out student loans averaging $11,342 a year. That adds up to $45,368 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Lesley is 4.4%. 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.
Lesley University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 2,339 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 1,394 full-time undergraduates at Lesley, 22% are male and 78% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Lesley University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 93 |
Black or African American | 116 |
Hispanic or Latino | 244 |
White | 767 |
International Students | 65 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 109 |
Geographic Diversity
Massachusetts students aren't the only ones who study at Lesley University. At this time, 27 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 45 countries are represented at Lesley. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, South Korea, and Japan.
Online Learning at Lesley University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Lesley has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 12th 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 Lesley
The following table shows how Lesley 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 |
---|---|---|
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology | #7 | #4 |
Mathematics & Statistics | #25 | #25 |
Mathematics | #26 | #23 |
Other Education | #34 | #34 |
Biological & Biomedical Sciences | #40 | #28 |
Writing Studies | #46 | #31 |
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies | #52 | #40 |
Teacher Education Subject Specific | #67 | #64 |
Online Affordability Rankings of Lesley Rankings
The following table shows how Lesley is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are mostly online.
Online Growth Rankings of Lesley
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Lesley University was 197.5%. This is the #283 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Lesley regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Lesley majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Lesley ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major.
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%.
Lesley University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
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 Daderot under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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