Boston University Tuition 2025-2026: $69,870 Breakdown, Net Price by Income & Payment Plans

Mandatory Fees: $1,502/year ($751/semester)

Tuition + Fees Total: $71,372/year

Important: The mandatory fees do NOT include Student Health Insurance ($3,538/year), which is billed separately and can be waived if you have qualifying coverage through a parent or employer plan. The waiver deadline is September 20 (fall) or January 31 (spring).

Uniform tuition: BU charges the same undergraduate tuition regardless of school or college -- whether you're in CAS, Questrom, Engineering, CFA, COM, Sargent, or Wheelock, it's $69,870. The one exception is the College of General Studies (CGS), which has a different structure due to its Spring-in-Boston + Summer-in-London format (total first-year cost ~$92,551).

Non-Billed Expenses (BU's Official Estimates):

Total Cost of Attendance: $94,427 (residential student) Commuter COA: $78,954 (no housing; reduced food estimate of $2,647)

The COA figure BU uses for financial aid calculations uses the lowest on-campus housing option ($12,790 standard double). If you live in premium housing, your actual costs will be higher -- a single at StuVi 2 runs $22,760/year for housing alone, making the real COA over $104,000.

Housing rates increased approximately 5% from 2024-25 to 2025-26. Here's the full breakdown:

Traditional/Suite-Style (Dining Plan Required):

Apartment-Style (Dining Plan NOT Required):

The gap between the cheapest option ($12,790 standard double) and the most expensive ($22,770 solo apartment) is nearly $10,000/year -- a fact that gets buried in the sticker-price headlines.

BU tuition has increased 47% over the past decade, far outpacing both inflation and the national average:

Pattern: After a brief slowdown in 2021-22 (3.0% -- likely pandemic-related), increases have accelerated to 4.5-4.8% annually. At the current pace, BU tuition and fees will likely exceed $75,000 by 2027-28 and $80,000 by 2029-30.

For context, the Massachusetts state average tuition increase over this period was 13.5%, and the national average was 11.0%. BU's 47% increase is roughly 4x the national average.

The sticker price is not what most families pay. BU distributes $473 million in annual financial aid, and meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for US citizens and permanent residents.

Key Stats:

Average Net Price by Family Income:

New for 2026-2027: BU announced that admitted students from families with total household income under $200,000 (with typical assets) will have a parent contribution capped at $20,000, covering at least full tuition plus a percentage of housing and dining. This is a significant expansion of affordability.

BU also guarantees that need-based scholarships never decrease -- if tuition increases, your scholarship increases proportionally.

BU offers several prestigious merit scholarships. No separate application is required for most -- just submit your admissions application by December 1 to be considered.

The Trustee Scholarship is BU's most prestigious -- roughly 20 students per year out of 76,000+ applicants receive it. Winners are typically valedictorians, national competition winners, or students with extraordinary achievements. There's no separate application; the admissions committee selects candidates from the ED and RD applicant pools.

Every school in BU's peer group now exceeds $90,000 in total COA:

Key takeaways:

• BU's sticker-price COA ($94,427) is the second-highest, behind only Tufts ($96,078)
• BU's average net price ($27,551) is among the lowest in this peer group -- lower than Northeastern ($45,775) and NYU (~$35,000)
• Tufts is introducing free tuition for families under $150K starting 2026-27
• Northeastern's significantly higher net price reflects weaker financial aid despite a lower sticker price
• All five schools saw 4-5% tuition increases for 2025-26

BU partners with Nelnet Campus Commerce to offer interest-free monthly payment plans:

How it works: Instead of paying ~$45,000 in one lump sum per semester, you spread it across 5 monthly payments. For a student with no aid, that's roughly $9,000/month. For a student receiving $60,000 in annual aid, each monthly installment drops to about $3,400.

Enroll through MyBU Student Portal > Financials > Student Account Balance > Nelnet Payment and Refunds > Payment Plans.

Massachusetts law requires all enrolled students to have health insurance. BU's Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) costs:

Can you waive it? Yes -- if you have qualifying coverage through a parent's, spouse's, or employer plan, you can waive SHIP through the MyBU Student Portal. If you don't actively waive by September 20 (fall) or January 31 (spring), you're automatically enrolled and billed.

This $3,538 is NOT included in the official $94,427 COA figure, which means the true cost for students without existing insurance coverage is closer to $97,965. This is a detail many families miss when comparing BU's cost to other schools.

Beyond tuition, fees, and room/board, several costs catch families off guard:

Applied Music Fee: $1,025/semester for CFA students taking private lessons (14 half-hour lessons)

Laundry: ~$1.75 per load (wash or dry), paid via Terrier Card. Budget $200-300/year.

BU Shuttle: Free, but if you rely on the MBTA for off-campus travel, a monthly LinkPass is $90/month (~$810/academic year).

Books & Supplies: BU estimates $1,000/year, but STEM and architecture students often spend more. Many professors now use free or low-cost digital materials.

Summer Storage: BU doesn't provide free storage. Most students use external storage companies or ship belongings home via UPS ($200-500).

Convenience Points: The initial $20 credit on your Terrier Card disappears fast. Most students add $200-500/year for laundry, printing, and vending.

Printing: $0.08/page black-and-white, $0.25/page color at campus print stations.

Lab Fees: Vary by course -- some science and engineering labs charge additional fees.

Total hidden costs: Budget an extra $1,500-3,000/year beyond BU's official indirect cost estimates.

At current rates with ~4.5% annual increases:

With indirect costs (books, transportation, personal), the total four-year cost of attendance approaches $403,000 at sticker price.

At average net price: $27,551/year x 4 = ~$110,204 total (a very different number than $400K).

The gap between sticker price and net price is why financial aid matters so much. Run BU's MyinTuition Quick Calculator (takes 3 minutes) at app.myintuitionapp.org to get a rough estimate of your family's actual cost.