• 24 June 2023 (Updated)

25 Colleges Continue To Drop Its Acceptance Rate in Recent Years

The acceptance rate, a percentage of applicants who accepted, is an difficulty indicator for college admission. In general, the lower the acceptance rate, the more difficult it is to get into college.
The top ranked colleges such as Harvard and Stanford keep very low rate of less than 10%. A Number of schools has been working to lower their acceptance rate in recent years. For example, UF's rate dropped from 38.75% (2018) to 23.00% (2022) and Johns Hopkins's rate fell from 11.48% (2018) to 7.00% (2022)
At 25 colleges, the acceptance rate is continually dropped year by year in the past 5 years. A main factor driving down the acceptance rate is the increase in the number of applicants, while the number of admitted students does not change drastically. In fact, many schools had significantly more applicants than last year.
In addition, schools' effort results in the lower acceptance rate. Low rates can be a way to get relatively good students, so schools try to keep them as low as possible. Also, a shrinking number of students or school size can lower acceptance rates.
The next two tables show the key statistics and the changes of acceptance rate for the past 5 years. You can check the detailed information and admission trends in each school's page.

Comparison Table

The following two tables compare the colleges with important academic statistics as well as admission facts. The tuition and admission data is based on the academic year 2023-2024 and enrollment data is based on the academic year 2021-2022
Key Statistics
School NameAcceptance RateYield PopulationSAT ScoreTuition
In-StateOut-of-State
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
23.35%43.92%55,2111,390$6,381$28,659
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
7.25%51.22%31,2751,550$63,340
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA
18.66%42.32%26,0821,490$20,986$58,014
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
16.66%34.60%15,2871,490$67,680
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
65.36%19.68%13,4381,095$9,676$18,652
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT
52.18%19.05%6,0191,310$56,360
Biola University
La Mirada, CA
56.63%29.52%5,3871,250$46,704
Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus
Portales, NM
27.55%92.37%5,106950$6,863$8,843
Harding University
Searcy, AR
45.12%78.86%4,8051,160$24,888
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Steubenville, OH
66.65%40.50%3,6561,210$32,630
Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX
69.72%28.67%2,978-$23,186
Denison University
Granville, OH
21.96%25.45%2,4161,370$64,000
Spring Arbor University
Spring Arbor, MI
47.32%20.84%2,3961,050$32,580
Northern Vermont University
Johnson, VT
72.88%11.86%1,779-$12,804$26,892
Vermont Technical College
Randolph, VT
49.78%27.43%1,414-$11,400$21,408
EDP University of Puerto Rico Inc-San Juan
San Juan, PR
39.64%74.31%1,302-$14,125
Westminster College
Salt Lake City, UT
69.75%12.42%1,2801,230$41,416
Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
73.34%11.30%1,1401,025$40,408
Corban University
Salem, OR
34.77%26.25%963-$37,208
Wabash College
Crawfordsville, IN
61.49%21.92%8351,225$49,125
Bethany Lutheran College
Mankato, MN
58.50%45.24%8301,120$30,010
Newschool of Architecture and Design
San Diego, CA
44.95%24.49%294-$30,291
St. Joseph's College of Nursing
Syracuse, NY
22.22%100.00%239-$23,206
Visible Music College
Memphis, TN
20.41%75.00%230-$22,000
DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center
Johnstown, PA
42.11%54.17%155-$32,489
Acceptance Rate Changes
School NameRate Change
2019-2023
20192020202120222023
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
-15.7538.75%36.58%31.13%30.00%23.00%
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
-4.4811.48%11.17%11.06%8.00%7.00%
University of Virginia-Main Campus
Charlottesville, VA
-7.4326.43%23.94%22.58%21.00%19.00%
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
-10.8927.89%27.22%26.38%19.00%17.00%
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL
-14.3179.31%78.69%73.03%71.00%65.00%
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT
-8.360.30%57.13%56.13%56.00%52.00%
Biola University
La Mirada, CA
-16.4673.47%69.85%64.38%61.00%57.01%
Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus
Portales, NM
-32.3660.38%58.25%50.60%32.97%28.02%
Harding University
Searcy, AR
-29.6374.62%61.34%55.07%54.00%44.99%
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Steubenville, OH
-10.0877.10%76.64%73.00%68.01%67.02%
Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX
-28.0298.04%97.48%81.44%81.04%70.02%
Denison University
Granville, OH
-11.9133.91%29.39%28.17%28.00%22.00%
Spring Arbor University
Spring Arbor, MI
-23.9170.93%65.66%63.30%60.00%47.02%
Northern Vermont University
Johnson, VT
-11.2384.24%77.78%75.77%75.01%73.01%
Vermont Technical College
Randolph, VT
-18.2168.21%67.04%58.40%55.94%50.00%
EDP University of Puerto Rico Inc-San Juan
San Juan, PR
-45.7885.78%70.48%55.80%42.92%40.00%
Westminster College
Salt Lake City, UT
-22.992.92%91.84%87.45%75.99%70.02%
Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
-12.6985.69%84.55%82.27%82.01%73.00%
Corban University
Salem, OR
-55.8990.91%85.10%48.34%38.02%35.02%
Wabash College
Crawfordsville, IN
-3.9564.97%64.19%63.21%62.02%61.02%
Bethany Lutheran College
Mankato, MN
-19.8277.87%72.64%64.51%61.06%58.05%
Newschool of Architecture and Design
San Diego, CA
-55.05100.00%98.36%96.25%60.85%44.95%
St. Joseph's College of Nursing
Syracuse, NY
-77.78100.00%75.00%72.73%61.54%22.22%
Visible Music College
Memphis, TN
-79.93100.00%75.25%71.93%37.04%20.07%
DLP Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center
Johnstown, PA
-43.685.71%79.69%76.12%52.83%42.11%
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