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Holy Cross College

Notre Dame, IN

Holy Cross College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Notre Dame, Indiana, a suburb of a large city, with 639 undergraduates. Business and liberal arts are its signature fields: together they make up 52% of its bachelor's degrees, two and a half times their share across the colleges we cover. 73% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $50,416 ten years after starting.

Holy Cross College admitted 1,231 of 1,670 applicants for the fall 2023 entering class (73.7%).

Acceptance rate
73.7%
Fall 2023 class
Tuition and fees
$36,600
2024–25 school year
Paid after aid
$26,728
Average, students with aid
ACT, middle 50%
23–31

Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2023 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.

What Holy Cross College is known for

Measured by the 65 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.

Business

36.9%

of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 17.7% share across the colleges we cover.

Liberal arts

15.4%

of its bachelor's degrees: about ten times the 1.6% share across the colleges we cover.

  • Business/Commerce2436.9% of degrees$52,927−23% vs $68,407 nationally
  • Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities1015.4% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
  • Psychology812.3% of degrees$51,745About the $50,706 national median
  • Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods69.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
  • Theological and Ministerial Studies69.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
  • Fine and Studio Arts69.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish

Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.

The place

Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.

Setting

Suburb of a large city

Notre Dame, IN

Undergraduates

639

Fall 2024

Type

Private, nonprofit

Baccalaureate college, arts and sciences focus

Living on campus

Half or more

of undergraduates live on campus

Students per faculty member

13 to 1

Fall 2024

International students

5%

of undergraduates, fall 2024

Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.

What stands out at Holy Cross College

Three things Holy Cross College published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.

Trend1 of 3

The admit rate fell from 88% to 74% between fall 2018 and fall 2023.

Fall 201888%
Fall 202374%

Both ends are measured rates for classes that have already enrolled: a rate that moved, not a forecast. The fall 2023 figure is the one at the top of this page.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2018 to fall 2023

Scores sent2 of 3

4% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.

The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 3% sent an ACT. Holy Cross College files test scores under “considered”.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Essays3 of 3

Holy Cross College asks for no supplemental essay.

Of the 2 prompts we track for this application, none is one you would have to write.

Source: the prompts we track for this application

Every figure, in full

The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.

Acceptance rate

73.7%

1,231 admitted of 1,670 applicants

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

SAT, middle 50%

Reading 490–660Math 490–640

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

ACT, middle 50%

23–31

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Enrolled students who sent an SAT

4%

Counted per test: a student may send both.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Enrolled students who sent an ACT

3%

Counted per test: a student may send both.

Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Where do you actually stand at Holy Cross College?

The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.

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What Holy Cross College costs

The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.

Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $36,600, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $50,881. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $26,728 a year on average.

Tuition and fees

$36,600

2024–25 school year

Full cost of attendance

$50,881

Tuition, fees, housing, food and books

Paid after aid

$26,728

Average, students who received aid

What students paid, by family income

Each bar is that figure as a share of the $50,881 full cost.

  • Under $30k$15,377Typical public university: $10,013
  • $30k–$48k$13,673Typical public university: $10,847
  • $48k–$75k$17,036Typical public university: $13,703
  • $75k–$110k$22,701Typical public university: $17,979
  • Over $110k$35,603Typical public university: $22,475

Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.

Where it leads

Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.

Finish within six years

73%

Our colleges' median: 63%

Return for a second year

70%

Our colleges' median: 79%

Earnings after 10 years

$50,416

Our colleges' median: $57,440

Median debt at graduation

$24,000

Our colleges' median: $23,725

Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.

How the rate has moved

Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.

Fall 201888%
Fall 202374%

Between fall 2018 and fall 2023 the admit rate fell from 88% to 74%.

What Holy Cross College says it weighs

The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.

  • Course rigorrequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • GPArequired

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Essayconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Test scoresconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Recommendationsconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

  • Class rankconsidered

    Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023

Essays on this application

2 essay prompts on the application: 2 are optional.

Published deadlines

Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.

  • Early ActionNovember 1, 2026

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

  • Priority Application DeadlineFebruary 15, 2027

    Verified October 10, 2026 · Source

  • Application closesJuly 30, 2027

    Verified September 27, 2026 · Source

More colleges on the record

Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.

Build the list this school belongs on.

The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.

See where I stand ›

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