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Is Bennington College worth it?
A first pass affordability and outcome read for Bennington, using national average inputs. Run your own numbers for a personalized score.
Worth-It Score
Heavy lift
Bennington lands in the heavy lift band for a typical family. The combination of $31,507 in yearly net price and $25,500 in median debt asks a lot relative to median earnings of $46,253. For context, Bennington's net price runs about 54% above the typical 4-year, private nonprofit school. This does not make the school wrong for every student, but it does mean the price deserves a closer test.
Is the price fair?
Compared to 1237 similar 4-year, private nonprofit schools
This school
$35,108
/yrAverage school like this
$22,837
/yrThis weighs on your Worth-It Score
You'd pay about $12,271 more per year than the typical student at a similar school. Over 4 years that's roughly $49,000 in extra cost.
Score breakdown
The public version of the score weighs affordability, after graduation outcomes, and repayment burden.
Affordability
40% weight
The yearly net price is doing real work against the score and raises the financing burden quickly.
Outcome
40% weight
The outcome data does not create enough margin to fully offset the cost.
Repayment
20% weight
Median debt stays in a more comfortable repayment range for a typical graduate.
The numbers behind the score
Median net price per year
$31,507
Median earnings 10 years out
$46,253
Median debt at graduation
$25,500
Graduation rate
71%
At Bennington, a typical graduate carries about $25,500 in student debt and earns roughly $46,253 ten years after enrolling. On a standard 10-year repayment plan, that works out to about $290 per month, or 8% of pre-tax income. That sits inside a borrower comfort range for many graduates.
How earnings compare to a high school diploma
Graduates earn $12,856 more than the typical working high school graduate in Vermont ($33,397) ten years after entering this school. A federal rule finalized in July 2026 ties each undergraduate program's federal loan eligibility to a comparison like this one, with the first calculations expected in 2027.
The national figure is $31,269. The Department of Education uses it instead of the state figure when fewer than half of a school's students come from its state.
62% of former students here earned more than the typical high school graduate ten years after entry, by College Scorecard's own measure.
Context, not a federal determination. The benchmarks are the Department of Education's published thresholds (2024 notice, based on 2022 Census data); thresholds under the 2026 rule have not been released yet. The official test looks at each program's graduates four years after completion; our figure is College Scorecard's median for the whole school, ten years after entry. How this works
What this means for your family
Bennington is a private nonprofit four year school in Bennington, VT. Private pricing can swing more dramatically based on aid, so your personalized score matters more here than the national average view alone.
Similar schools worth comparing
These schools share a similar sector, geography, or price range.
Private nonprofit 4-year
Sterling
Craftsbury Common, VT
Worth-It Score: 20/100
Median net price: $31,387
Private nonprofit 4-year
Middlebury
Middlebury, VT
Worth-It Score: 81/100
Median net price: $32,102
Private nonprofit 4-year
Saint Michael's
Colchester, VT
Worth-It Score: 62/100
Median net price: $29,915
Private nonprofit 4-year
Norwich
Northfield, VT
Worth-It Score: 69/100
Median net price: $26,676
Private nonprofit 4-year
Champlain
Burlington, VT
Worth-It Score: 40/100
Median net price: $39,617
Common questions about Bennington
The median net price at Bennington is $31,507 per year. That is the average yearly price after typical grant aid for students in the public federal data, not the published sticker price.
Get your personalized Worth-It score
National averages are a starting point. Plug in your actual aid offer, intended major, and family situation to get a score that reflects your specific picture.
Looking at private colleges options in Vermont? See the most affordable private colleges in Vermont →
The Worth-It Score weighs affordability (40%), after graduation outcomes (40%), and repayment burden (20%). Underlying data points come from publicly available federal higher education reporting. See full methodology →
What families actually paid
The published price is rarely what anyone pays. Pick a household income range to see what students at Bennington in that range paid on average, after grants and scholarships.
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All students who received aid
$31,507a year, on average
Average for first-time, full-time students who received federal financial aid, 2024-25. It does not include transfer or part-time students, and it is an average rather than a quote — what you pay depends on your own circumstances and the aid this school offers you. Source: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS.
Now work out how to pay for it, cheapest money first.
A Worth-It Score tells you whether the price is justified. The 2026-27 funding guide covers the borrowing order, what changed on July 1, 2026, and the current limits.
Open the 2026-27 funding guide →