That is what we are going to do here with College of the Holy Cross, a private college in Worcester, Massachusetts. We are going to look at its official figures one by one, without inflating or downplaying them, so that you finish this article knowing what kind of school it is, what it asks of your child, what it really costs, and what questions are yours to answer before your child makes a decision.
What Kind of School It Is and Where It Is Located
According to the Carnegie Classification, College of the Holy Cross is a baccalaureate college focused on arts and sciences. It is a four-year, small, highly residential college: at least half of degree-seeking students live in institution-owned housing, and at least 80 out of every 100 attend full time. Carnegie also places it in its most selective admissions group.
That “highly residential” label does not tell you whether your child should move there. Living on campus is one thing; paying tuition is another, and room and board are charged separately, as you will see later.
Geographically, Holy Cross is in Worcester, Massachusetts, within Worcester County and the city’s metropolitan area. That tells you where it is, not how to get there. If your child plans to live at home, do not rely on what the map says: drive the route yourself on a weekday at the time your child’s classes would meet. The actual travel time is almost never what the app promises.
It is a private, nonprofit, four-year institution. The highest credential level it reports offering is a bachelor’s degree. That is an institutional fact, not a promise about the specific major your child is interested in: verify the program before assuming anything.
And there is something worth clarifying from the start, because many families confuse these categories: Holy Cross has none of these three federal designations. It is not a historically Black college or university, a tribal college or university, or a land-grant institution. That does not tell you which students it serves or how your child will feel there. Ask directly: what cultural centers exist today, what student organizations are available, and whether your child can speak with someone who already attends.
A Small Community, With Few Latino Students
In the fall of 2023, Holy Cross had 3,035 enrolled students, all undergraduates: it is a medium-sized school, larger than most of its selective private peers. The split between men and women is nearly even: 55 out of every 100 are women.
Here is a figure that will matter if you are a Latino family: 12 out of every 100 undergraduate students are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority, although the share is slightly above the midpoint among its comparable schools. That does not remove Holy Cross from your child’s list, but it does tell you that during a visit, you should ask what specifically exists for Latino students: a student group, a cultural center, someone in the admissions office who speaks Spanish. And keep in mind that this comparison does not account for the part of the country where the school is located, and living far from an area with a large Latino population may matter more than the number alone reveals.
Academics: Semesters, a Concentrated Program, and Few Students per Faculty Member
The academic year at Holy Cross is organized into two semesters. It accepts credit for AP exams, but not for life experience. Saying that it accepts AP does not mean it awards credit for every exam: ask for the equivalency evaluation in writing before enrolling, and do not budget for the savings until you have it in hand.
In the most recently reported year, the institution awarded 748 bachelor’s degrees across 20 program families. By far the largest family was social sciences: 275 degrees, or 37 out of every 100 of the total. Compared with similar schools, Holy Cross is among those awarding the most degrees per year. That does not measure its current offerings or the quality of a particular program: ask about the exact major your child is interested in.
One number does stand out: the student-to-faculty ratio is 9 to 1, one of the lowest among its peers. But a low ratio does not guarantee small classes or individual attention; it is a schoolwide average, not a snapshot of a classroom. Ask directly how many students are in first-year classes.
The institution also reports structured opportunities such as study abroad and pathways to teacher certification, including state approval for certain areas of specialization.
Getting In Is Not a Formality; It Takes Effort
Holy Cross does not have open admissions. Among the materials it reviews, four are required: the high school transcript, the personal essay, letters of recommendation, and an English proficiency exam for applicants to whom it applies. Other materials are not required but are considered if submitted: grade point average, class rank, completion of the required college-preparatory curriculum, a portfolio or competency exam, work experience, and whether a family member attended.
Put plainly: gathering paperwork is not enough at this college. The essay is required. Your child has to write, and write well. The published application fee is $60. And when it comes to legacy status, if no one in your family attended, do not spend energy worrying about it. Spend that energy on what is within your control.
Now for the figures that define how competitive admission is. In 2023, Holy Cross received 8,670 first-year applications and offered 1,829 places. That is 21 out of every 100. Compared with similar selective private schools, it is among those accepting the smallest shares: nine out of ten schools in that group, or more, accepted a higher percentage of applicants. On the other side of that calculation are 6,841 applicants who did not receive an offer.
This number tells you how many places were offered. It says nothing about your child’s worth. A low percentage does not make a school better, and a high one does not make it worse: make sure your child’s list includes schools on both sides.
Of those admitted, about half ultimately enrolled: 45 out of every 100. The other 55 did not enroll there, and this figure does not explain why or whether they went to another school. It is a percentage for comparing schools with one another, not a measure of quality or satisfaction. When the admission letters arrive, this is not the number that decides: place the offers side by side and compare net price, major, and distance before the deposit deadline.
Regarding tests: the SAT and ACT are not required at Holy Cross. If your child submits them, they are considered; if not, the application remains valid. Of those who enrolled in 2023, 35 out of every 100 submitted SAT scores, a high proportion compared with similar schools. Among them, the middle half scored between 630 and 720 in reading and writing, and between 620 and 700 in mathematics. That 630 is not a minimum, and that 720 does not guarantee anything either: these are figures for students who were already enrolled, not for all applicants.
Regarding transfers: there are few. Of the cohort that entered in 2017, only 5 out of every 100 are recorded as having transferred to another school before completing here, a low rate compared with similar schools. And in the fall of 2023, only 18 students came to Holy Cross from another institution. If your child were considering transferring credits in or out, this figure says nothing about what would be accepted: request that information in writing, course by course, before moving anyone.
The List Price: $80,500 per Year
At College of the Holy Cross, among 33 first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $14,900. Among 58 students in the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $20,722; among 203 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $51,228. For dependent students, the band combines their parents’ income with their own.
There is a difference of $36,328 between the average for the lowest-income band (33 students) and the average for the highest-income band (203 students). These are group averages, not a prediction of your family’s price. Among first-year students who received any grant or scholarship aid, the average was $35,455.
$14,900 was the average net price for the lowest-income families in the 2022-23 academic year. That does not mean it is what your family will pay. It helps you determine whether it is worth requesting the financial aid letter.
Because the price changes so much from one income band to another, correctly identifying yours is the first step. The income bands in this profile describe first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or in-district rate. The overall average with grant or scholarship aid, when shown, describes first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who received federal, state, local, or institutional grants or scholarships. The financial aid letter sent to you is what matters.
Financial Aid: It Reaches Most Students, but Not Everyone Equally
63 out of every 100 degree-seeking students received aid that does not have to be repaid—grants or scholarships. That is more than half, but not everyone. Compared with similar schools, Holy Cross falls in the quartile where grants and scholarships reach fewer students. Among those who received them, the average for the year was $40,431.
The federal Pell Grant, reserved for low-income families, reached only 15 out of every 100. That means at least 48 out of every 100 received aid from another source, not from Pell.
$40,431 is real money, but it is neither a price nor your offer. A high average among aid recipients does not predict the size of your award. When your letter arrives, what matters is how much your family would have to pay out of pocket, and that is the figure to compare across schools, not the size of the advertised discount.
Regarding loans: 40 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal loan in 2022-23. That is a low proportion compared with similar schools—seven out of ten, or more, had a higher proportion of students with debt. Among those who did borrow, the average was $5,554 that year. This figure covers a single year and only federal loans in the student’s name: it does not include Parent PLUS, bank debt, or debt accumulated by graduation. That total is not in this report, and which of the two groups your child will fall into—with debt or without it—will be determined by your child’s own financial aid letter, not by this percentage describing other families.
Holy Cross also reports a tuition installment payment plan and participation in a Promise program, two mechanisms worth asking the admissions office about if cash flow is an issue for your family.
Campus Life, Sports, and Support
Holy Cross has its own housing and meal plans, but it does not require all first-time students to live there. The reported maximum capacity of institutional housing is 2,719 students. The existence of rooms does not guarantee a bed: request the year’s rate, the housing application deadline, and whether a place is guaranteed or your child would join a waiting list in writing.
ROTC is available, with the Navy branch confirmed in writing. Army and Air Force are not marked in the report. Not confirmed does not mean impossible: it means you need to ask directly if your child is interested in another branch.
Holy Cross competes in intercollegiate athletics and is affiliated with the NCAA, with reported membership in football, basketball, baseball, and cross-country or track. The membership belongs to the school, not your child: if sports are part of the plan, write directly to the coach to ask about roster openings, division, and whether that sport awards scholarships.
There is no distance education—not even one course, at any level. If your child needs scheduling flexibility because of work or caring for someone at home, everything here has to fit into an in-person schedule.
The library operates with paid staff, and its annual spending exceeds the threshold recorded by the federal government. It has physical and digital collections and participates in interlibrary lending. That is a baseline, not a guarantee that specific databases exist for your child’s major: ask by program name.
The institution also reports combined academic and career counseling, employment services for students, placement services after completion, participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program for veterans, and a published web address for disability services.
Who Stays and Who Finishes
Here, Holy Cross shows high figures, and it is worth understanding them clearly because they are among the strongest data points in this entire profile.
Of the students who entered for the first time in the fall of 2022, 93 out of every 100 were still enrolled or had already graduated one year later. It is among the schools with the highest retention among its selective peers. This figure combines two groups—those who are still enrolled and those who have already finished—and does not say what happened to the rest.
Of the cohort that entered in 2017, 90 out of every 100 graduated within six years; by four years, the figure was already 88 out of every 100, just two points lower. It is among the schools with the highest graduation rates among its comparable institutions.
At eight years, looking at a different cohort that entered in 2015-16, 93 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from Holy Cross as of August 2023. Among Pell Grant recipients, the figure was 91 out of every 100, a difference of just two points.
All these figures are high and consistent. But a high figure is not a promise for your child in particular. It is what happened to that cohort, at that school, under their own circumstances. What is within your control is making sure your child enters with credits in order and knows, from the first semester, who the academic advisor is and when registration opens for courses in the major.
What You Already Know, and What Comes Next
None of these numbers decides for you. The admission rate does not measure your child’s worth. The list price is not what you will pay. The graduation percentage is not a promise about your child’s particular story.
What falls to you is what always does: request the financial aid letter in writing before ruling the school out or making a commitment, verify AP and transfer credits before assuming any savings, and ask directly about what matters to your child—sports, language, the Latino community, housing—instead of settling for what a checked box in a federal report says.
Your child’s job is to write the essay, build the academic record, and decide whether this school makes sense personally. Your job is the money, the deadlines, the uncomfortable questions, and providing support without carrying alone the burden of a system you are only beginning to learn.
Put this information together with what your child wants to study, what your child has built so far, and what your family can afford. The plan comes from that combination, not from any single number.
Source note: the information in this article comes from official data reported by College of the Holy Cross to the U.S. Department of Education’s IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System), corresponding primarily to the 2022-23 and 2023-24 cycles. Best College Aid does not represent College of the Holy Cross or the United States government, and this article is not a substitute for information the college may provide directly about your particular circumstances.