Bennington College

What are the graduation rates for students at Bennington College?

Bennington's reported six-year graduation rate is 71%, while its four-year rate is 61%. These figures describe the share of a defined entering cohort of first-time, full-time degree-seeking students who completed within each period; they do not describe every transfer student or every current enrollee.

The reported first-year retention rate is 82%, meaning that measure follows whether eligible first-time students returned the next fall, not whether they ultimately graduated. Completion rates offer a useful comparison point, but they cannot establish why an individual student stayed, left, or took longer to finish. Transfer applicants in particular should ask for degree-planning guidance rather than assuming the first-time-student rates predict their own timeline.

What is the earning potential for graduates at Bennington College?

Public program-level earnings figures for Bennington describe measured earnings about one year after completion, not a guaranteed starting salary. The figures available for selected fields are limited, and many fields do not have a publishable figure.

In the College Scorecard program data, reported one-year earnings are $21,599 for music and $20,202 for literature. Theater arts and stagecraft is reported at $15,302, while visual and performing arts, general, is reported at $14,867. These are program-specific measures for the population captured by the federal data, not averages for all Bennington graduates. Small groups, incomplete coverage, graduate study, freelance work, and the short measurement window can make early earnings especially hard to interpret in arts fields.

Bennington's career services include counseling, résumé and interview support, employer connections, and alumni networking. Access to those services should not be confused with a measured employment outcome.