Three answers per item
In the IPEDS Admissions survey, each college that selects its first-year students reports, for each of a list of items, whether it is required to be considered, not required but considered if submitted, or not considered even if submitted. The items include secondary school GPA, class rank, school record, a college-preparatory program, recommendations, test scores, work experience, a personal statement or essay, and whether a relationship to alumni (legacy status) is considered. School profiles on MajorPays show the answers a school reported.
What this does not show
- Weight. The survey does not say how much each item counts. A college can consider five items and rely mostly on two.
- Programs. Policies can differ by program, by applicant type or from year to year.
- Open admission. Colleges that admit most applicants may report few or no items; the profile’s admission policy line says so.
What acceptance rates look like
Among the 1,724 colleges that reported at least 100 applicants (IPEDS Admissions, 2024), the median acceptance rate is about 76%, and the middle half of colleges fall between roughly 60% and 89%. Only about 6% of these colleges admit fewer than a quarter of applicants, and about 17% admit fewer than half. Roughly 53% admit three out of four applicants or more. Selective admission is the exception, even though it gets most of the attention.
- By sector: the median public college admits about 82% of applicants, the median private nonprofit about 72%, and the median private for-profit that reports about 79%.
- Yield (the share of admitted students who enroll) has a median of about 20%, and the middle half run from about 14% to 35%. A low yield means most admitted students chose somewhere else, which is common.
- Over time: for the 1,514 colleges with a complete six-year record, the acceptance rate rose by more than a point at about 57% and fell by more than a point at about 35%; the median change is about +3 percentage points. Applications have grown faster than seats at some colleges and the reverse at others.
An acceptance rate describes how many applicants a college admitted, not how good it is or how hard it is to graduate. A college can admit nearly everyone and still graduate most of its students, or admit few and graduate most of them. Use the rate to understand your options, and check the graduation rate, cost and program of interest on the same profile.
Sources: NCES IPEDS Admissions (2024, provisional) for colleges with at least 100 applicants, and the six most recent years of the same survey for the trend; statistics computed across colleges by MajorPays and not weighted by enrollment. Group figures, not predictions, and MajorPays does not rank institutions.
Test scores
Some colleges report test scores as “considered if submitted” instead of “required”. Profiles with SAT or ACT ranges show them only where the school reports them, and the ranges describe students who enrolled and submitted scores, which is not the same as the scores the school would accept.
Where to check
The college’s own admissions page is the final word on what an application needs this year. MajorPays shows the federal data only to help you compare what colleges report, and does not rank schools or predict anyone’s chances.