The average acceptance rate of the 78 Pennsylvania colleges that have competitive admission is 71.15% for the academic year 2024-2025. Compared to last year, the acceptance rate is lower by 1.62%. The acceptance rate at 32 Pennsylvania colleges increased and the rate of 46 colleges decreased.
Curtis Institute of Music has the lowest (i.e. hard to admit) acceptance rate of 4.58%. University of Pennsylvania (5.40%) and Swarthmore College (7.46%) are following it in the list of Tightest Pennsylvania 4-Years Colleges to Get In.
This ranking is only based on acceptance rates and more admission stats such as SAT and ACT scores are helpful to measure the chances to get in more accurately.
Curtis Institute of Music ranked 1st, up 2 places from 3rd last year. University of Pennsylvania ranked second, a drop from first place last year.
The average undergraduate tuition & fees of the schools is $56,596 and graduate tuition & fees is $28,744 for the academic year 2024-2025.
We note that the actual tightness of admission lies in considering other admission requirements such as SAT score.| School Name | Acceptance Rate | Yield | SAT Score | Undergraduate Tuition & Fees | Total Population | Graduation Rate | Students to Faculty Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 2 | Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, PAPrivate, 4-year | 4.58% 2.37% | 92.31% | - | $4,530 | 161 | 96.00% | 2 to 1 |
| 2 1 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PAPrivate, 4-year | 5.40% 0.47% | 67.98% | 1,550 | $68,686 | 29,109 | 97.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 3 1 | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PAPrivate, 4-year | 7.46% 0.52% | 43.79% | 1,540 | $65,494 | 1,623 | 92.00% | 7 to 1 |
| 4 - | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PAPrivate, 4-year | 11.66% 0.26% | 45.67% | 1,540 | $65,636 | 15,888 | 94.00% | 5 to 1 |
| 5 - | Haverford College Haverford, PAPrivate, 4-year | 12.37% 0.54% | 42.62% | 1,510 | $70,398 | 1,431 | 90.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 6 1 | Central Penn College Summerdale, PAPrivate, 4-year | 18.46% 7.47% | 83.41% | - | $19,854 | 684 | 51.00% | 7 to 1 |
| 7 1 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PAPrivate, 4-year | 25.93% 3.33% | 28.38% | 1,440 | $64,980 | 7,692 | 88.00% | 10 to 1 |
| 8 2 | Villanova University Villanova, PAPrivate, 4-year | 26.98% 1.86% | 27.73% | 1,450 | $67,776 | 10,041 | 92.00% | 10 to 1 |
| 9 2 | Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PAPrivate, 4-year | 28.19% 3.64% | 17.13% | 1,375 | $70,794 | 1,808 | 84.00% | 9 to 1 |
| 10 2 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PAPrivate, 4-year | 28.93% 3.08% | 30.11% | 1,400 | $67,812 | 3,969 | 86.00% | 9 to 1 |
| Average | 17.00% | 47.91% | 1,476 | $56,596 | 7,241 | 87.00% | 8 to 1 |