A private R1 research university in Baltimore, MD, admitting 6.44% of applicants with $101,214 in per-student instructional spending.
Baltimore, Maryland
Johns Hopkins University is a private R1 research university in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1876, the first research university in the United States, established on the German model of combining research and graduate education. It enrolls 5,693 undergraduates and 23,854 graduate students across the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering for undergraduates, with graduate programs through the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the School of Medicine, the Carey Business School, and the School of Education.
Biology, computer science, engineering, and neuroscience account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees. Hopkins holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Hopkins is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required.
Official website: jhu.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Johns Hopkins scores 88.34 overall, rated Strong. Outcomes (98.13) reflects a 93.78% six-year graduation rate and instructional investment of $101,214 per student per year, the highest in this peer group. Value scores 89.22, driven by an average net price of $18,809 and strong graduate outcomes. Affordability scores 36.73. All scores use verified federal data only.
Johns Hopkins is among the most selective universities in the country, admitting 6.44% of applicants. Hopkins is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,553 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 34 and 36. Hopkins uses the Common App with supplemental essays.
The Early Decision deadline is November 1 (binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 2. Hopkins's admissions review places strong weight on intellectual curiosity, research interest, and academic rigor. The applicant pool is heavily concentrated in pre-medical, biology, neuroscience, and engineering, and competitive applicants typically demonstrate research experience, laboratory work, or publication involvement.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Johns Hopkins University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Hopkins charges $65,230 in tuition plus $20,150 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $88,000 before aid. Hopkins meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted domestic students, with no loans in aid packages. The average net price after all grants and scholarships is $18,809. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $428; attendance is essentially free. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the average net price is $0 after grants. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $14,591. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $37,774.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $70 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Johns Hopkins completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 93.78% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 88.37%, and first-year retention stands at 97.98%. Hopkins's federal loan rate of 9.31% and median debt of $10,250 are among the lowest at any selective private university in the country, consistent with the no-loan aid policy reaching a meaningful share of enrolled students.
The median earnings figures for Hopkins graduates require context. Median earnings are $86,306 six years after first enrolling and $87,555 at ten years, which appear low relative to the selectivity of the institution. At the ten-year mark, 92.25% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate.
The near-equal six-year and ten-year medians reflect Hopkins's atypically high share of graduates entering medical school directly: at the ten-year measurement window, many are still in residency, typically earning $60,000-$75,000, well below what they will earn as attending physicians. Hopkins undergraduate earnings are best understood as a temporarily depressed figure rather than a ceiling; the medical school pipeline is the dominant factor.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Hopkins enrolls 5,693 undergraduates on the Homewood campus in Baltimore, Maryland, with the medical campus in East Baltimore and SAIS in Washington DC. Asian students account for 29.37% of undergraduates; white 19.50%, Hispanic 18.67%, and Black 8.33%. Nineteen percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 13.13% are first-generation college students.
The undergraduate class is small relative to the graduate enrollment of 23,854, making Hopkins one of the most graduate-intensive major research universities in the country. The Bloomberg School of Public Health, consistently ranked the top public health school in the world, is a graduate-only program but shapes the research environment and opportunities available to undergraduates significantly.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Johns Hopkins University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Johns Hopkins University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 228 distinct programs across 24 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Hopkins operates at a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 94.34% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty, one of the highest rates at any research university. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $101,214 per year, the highest in this peer group and reflecting the research infrastructure maintained for a relatively small undergraduate class. The endowment stands at $13.06 billion. Hopkins receives more federal research funding than any other university in the United States, primarily through the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Bloomberg School's global health research programs.
4,020 instructional faculty across 6 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 1,231 | 31% | $217,932 |
| Associate Professors | 930 | 23% | $151,778 |
| Assistant Professors | 1,417 | 35% | $128,188 |
| Instructors | 185 | 5% | $109,006 |
| Lecturers | 248 | 6% | $94,884 |
| No Rank | 9 | 0% | $79,566 |
Hopkins's defining strengths are its research depth, the $101,214 per-student instructional spending (highest in this peer group), near-free attendance for families earning under $48,000, a federal loan rate of 9.31%, and median debt of $10,250 (among the lowest at any selective university). The outcomes are strong: 6yr grad rate 93.78%, Outcomes score 98.13. The ten-year earnings figure ($87,555) is misleadingly low due to the medical school pipeline and should not be read as a signal of weak outcomes.
The challenges are primarily cultural and structural: the undergraduate experience at Hopkins can feel isolated within a large graduate and research enterprise; Baltimore requires more effort to navigate than DC, Boston, or New York; and the campus culture is more academically intense and pre-professional than socially expansive. Best fit for students who are serious about biomedical research, pre-medicine, public health, or international studies, who will benefit from the research infrastructure, and who qualify for substantial financial aid.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Hopkins: how selective admissions are, why the ten-year earnings look lower than expected, how financial aid compares to peers, and what the undergraduate experience is like.
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