Admission statistics are of great help when looking for the latest trends in the admission and acceptance rates of the students in your dream college. These Admission Statistics provide insight into the number of admitted students in the nation’s top colleges in different years.
If you are a high school student, these admission statistics will help you get detailed information about your dream college and will help you prepare for college admissions. According to experts, students can shape their college search with the help of admission statistics. You can use the data provided in the following article.
In this article, we have compiled all the details about the admission rates of the colleges and the number of students admitted over the past years. You will also come across the details about the acceptance rates, the volume of applications, etc., of the top colleges.
Table of Contents
Admission Statistics(Top Picks)

- 20.2 million students were enrolled in undergraduate courses in the year 2022.
- Having an SAT or ACT score above 50% will help the student in college admissions.
- Havard has the least acceptance rate of 3.19%.
- Cornell University has the highest annual volume of applications. There were 51,328 applications for the admission procedure at the University.
- Princeton University had the highest volume of applications in the year 2021- 2022. It had approximately more than 13% of the volume of applications.
- Staford University received the highest number of applications in the year 2022. 47,450 students applied to Stanford in that academic year.
- In the year 2022, the admission rate of the students at Caltech University was only 6.55%.
- In the year 2022, 15,468 students were admitted to Michigan University.
- There were 5.26 million enrollments in private universities and 14.77 million enrollments in public universities in the year 2022.
- 1,282,000 males and 1,950,000 females enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in the universities of the United States in 2022.
- According to the statistics from research.com, since 2020, public universities and colleges have seen an increase of 24% in common applications, while private institutions have increased by 17%.
- The latest reports from Selingo show that acceptance rates have become more competitive in 2022.
General Admission Statistics – Admission Statistics
The admission rates in colleges have decreased over the past years. Here are a few Admission Statistics that provide general information on various colleges around the globe.
- There are 1.1 million international students in the United States.
- 18.99 million college students were there in the US in the year 2020.
- Tribhuvan University in Nepal has the highest number of students in the world. The number of students enrolled in the university is 460,632.
- The most common field of study selected by the new students in OECD countries is Business, Administration and law.
- Engineering is the most common field of study preferred by international students in the United States.
- The highest number of international students in the United States are from China.
- Up to 90% of the colleges declared to keep tests as optional criteria for admission. This will result in more students being admitted into their dream college without appearing for any tests.
- Admission rates are predicted to remain low in the upcoming years.
- As SAT subject II is eliminated permanently, AP tests are supposed to play a significant role in admissions.
- Personal and supplemental essays will continue to play essential roles in admissions.
- Submitting an SAT or ACT score above 50% will help the students in their college admissions.
- Sports will play an important role in college admissions in the next two cycles.
- Around 57,081,334 students have applied for the academic year 2022-2023, among which 33,022,263 were admitted to US colleges.
The following data suggests the total number of applicants, the number of admitted students, and the total number of enrolled students for 2022-2023.
Applicants | Admitted | Enrolled | |
Total | 57,081,334 | 33,022,263 | 8,039,886 |
Public Schools | 32,194,426 | 20,312,698 | 5,366,940 |
4 Years (or high) | 23,042,138 | 20,203,986 | 5,314,295 |
2-4 years | 135,5445 | 99,558 | 46,120 |
Less than 2 years | 16,743 | 9,154 | 6,525 |
Private schools | 24,886,908 | 12,709,565 | 2,672,946 |
4 years (or high) | 24,749,546 | 12,608,738 | 2,6623,524 |
2-4 years | 120,889 | 87,635 | 40,187 |
Less than 2 years | 16,473 | 13,192 | 9,235 |
College Acceptance Rates – Admission Statistics
The college acceptance rates vary every year. According to the admission trends in the academic year, there may be an increase or decrease in the acceptance rates of the colleges. In the following section, we have listed some crucial facts and figures about college acceptance rates.
- The average acceptance rate in the United States is 68%.
- For US colleges, the average acceptance rate noted for the academic year 2022-2023 is 57.85%.
- The average acceptance rate for public colleges was 63.09%, and the average rate for private schools was 51.07%.
Following is the detailed data on the acceptance rate for the US colleges (2023) for school types.
School type | Acceptance Rate |
All schools average | 57.85% |
Public schools | 63.09% |
4 years (or high) | 63.05% |
2-4 years | 73.45% |
Less than 2 years | 54.67% |
Private schools | 51.07% |
4 years (or high) | 50.95% |
2-4 years | 72.49% |
Less than 2 years | 80.08% |
- Only 3.19% of the students were accepted to Harvard University for the class of 2026.
- According to the common app, there is a 21.3% increase in overall college application submissions for the class of 2026.
- Harvard University received 61,221 applicants, from which 1,984 applications were accepted, with an acceptance rate of 3.2%.
Let’s have a look at the number of student enrollments from 2015-2020.
Year | Number of enrolled freshman students | Share off first-time applicants granted admission to enroll |
2015 | 3021413 | 55.8% |
2016 | 3014737 | 56.3% |
2017 | 3009234 | 55.8% |
2018 | 3002330 | 56.8% |
2019 | 2975219 | 60.7% |
2020 | 2713484 | 60.2% |
- 10.3% was the acceptance rate of Cornell University during the admission process in the year 2022.
- Only 3.73% of the students were accepted into Columbia University during the admissions in the year 2022.
The following table provides a breakdown of the acceptance rates at Top Institutions.
College | Acceptance rates |
California Institute of Technology | 4% |
Harvard University | 4% |
MIT | 4.1% |
Princeton University | 4.1% |
Stanford University | 4.1%% |
Yale University | 5% |
Brown University | 6% |
Dartmouth College | 6% |
Duke University | 6% |
University of Chicago | 6% |
University of Pennsylvania | 6% |
Northwestern University | 7% |
Vanderbilt University | 7% |
Johns Hopkins University | 8% |
Cornell University | 9% |
Rice University | 9% |
Tulane University | 10% |
Tufts University | 11% |
University of California | 11% |
Georgetown University | 12% |
Sources: NCES.
College Admissions Rates – Admission Statistics
The college admission rates vary from the college acceptance rates. They determine the number of students admitted in a particular academic year in the colleges. Let us take a look at the admission statistics of Ivy League colleges and other well-known colleges across the nation.
- 42,749 was the annual volume application of Harvard in the year 2022.
- Stanford had an annual volume application of 47,450 in the year 2022.
The following table includes the details about the annual volume of applications the Ivy League colleges from the year 2017 to 2022.
University Name | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Brown | 28,919 | 30,432 | 30,397 | 32,390 | 32,724 | 35,438 |
Columbia | 33,531 | 32,952 | 36,250 | 36,292 | 37,389 | 40,203 |
Cornell | 40,006 | 43,041 | 41,907 | 44,965 | 47,038 | 51,328 |
Dartmouth | 22,416 | 19,296 | 20,505 | 20,675 | 20,034 | 22,033 |
Harvard | 35,023 | 34,295 | 37,305 | 39,041 | 39,506 | 42,749 |
MIT | 18,989 | 18,357 | 18,306 | 19,020 | 20,247 | 21,706 |
Penn | 31,280 | 35,868 | 37,267 | 38,918 | 40,413 | 44,482 |
Princeton | 26,498 | 26,641 | 27,290 | 29,303 | 31,056 | 35,370 |
Stanford | 38,829 | 42,167 | 42,487 | 43,997 | 44,073 | 47,450 |
Yale | 29,610 | 30,932 | 30,237 | 31,455 | 32,900 | 35,306 |
- There was an 8.29% change in the volume of applications to Brown University in the year 2022 as compared to the year 2021.
The following table breaks down the change in the volume of applications to the Ivy League from the year 2017 to 2022.
University Name | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 |
Brown | 5.23% | -0.12% | 6.56% | 1.03% | 8.29% |
Columbia | -1.73% | 10.01% | 0.12% | 3.02% | 7.53% |
Cornell | 7.59% | -2.63% | 7.30% | 4.61% | 9.12% |
Dartmouth | -13.92% | 6.27% | 0.83% | -3.10% | 9.98% |
Harvard | -2.08% | 8.78% | 4.65% | 1.19% | 8.21% |
MIT | -3.33% | -0.28% | 3.90% | 6.45% | 7.21% |
Penn | 14.67% | 3.90% | 4.43% | 3.84% | 10.07% |
Princeton | 0.54% | 2.44% | 7.38% | 5.98% | 13.89% |
Stanford | 8.60% | 0.76% | 3.55% | 0.17% | 7.66% |
Yale | 4.46% | -2.25% | 4.03% | 4.59% | 7.31% |
- 1,962 students were admitted to Harvard University in the year 2022.
- In the year 2022, 2,071 students were admitted to Stanford University.
The following table highlights the number of admitted students into Ivy League colleges from the year 2017 to 2022.
University Name | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Brown | 2,649 | 2,619 | 2,580 | 2,919 | 2,722 | 2,566 |
Columbia | 2,311 | 2,291 | 2,228 | 2,193 | 2,185 | 2,214 |
Cornell | 6,062 | 6,019 | 6,234 | 6,277 | 5,889 | 5,288 |
Dartmouth | 2,252 | 2,220 | 2,120 | 2,176 | 2,092 | 1,925 |
Harvard | 2,029 | 2,023 | 1,990 | 2,037 | 2,056 | 1,962 |
MIT | 1,548 | 1,419 | 1,467 | 1,485 | 1,438 | 1,464 |
Penn | 3,785 | 3,551 | 3,697 | 3,661 | 3,699 | 3,731 |
Princeton | 1,931 | 1,939 | 1,908 | 1,894 | 1,890 | 1,941 |
Stanford | 2,210 | 2,138 | 2,144 | 2,063 | 2,050 | 2,071 |
Yale | 1,991 | 1,935 | 1,963 | 1,972 | 2,272 | 2,229 |
- 4.59% was the admit rate of Harvard University in the year 2022.
- 4.36% was the admit rate of the students at Stanford University.
The following table displays the admit rates of the colleges in the Ivy League from the year 2017 to the year 2022.
University Name | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Brown | 9.16% | 8.61% | 8.49% | 9.01% | 8.32% | 7.24% |
Columbia | 6.89% | 6.95% | 6.15% | 6.04% | 5.84% | 5.51% |
Cornell | 15.15% | 13.98% | 14.88% | 13.96% | 12.52% | 10.30% |
Dartmouth | 10.05% | 11.50% | 10.34% | 10.52% | 10.44% | 8.74% |
Harvard | 5.79% | 5.90% | 5.33% | 5.22% | 5.20% | 4.59% |
MIT | 8.15% | 7.73% | 8.01% | 7.81% | 7.10% | 6.74% |
Penn | 12.10% | 9.90% | 9.92% | 9.41% | 9.15% | 8.39% |
Princeton | 7.29% | 7.28% | 6.99% | 6.46% | 6.09% | 5.49% |
Stanford | 5.69% | 5.07% | 5.05% | 4.69% | 4.65% | 4.36% |
Yale | 6.72% | 6.26% | 6.49% | 6.27% | 6.91% | 6.31% |
- 14,484 students have been admitted to Boston University in the year 2022.
- 15,468 students have been admitted to Michigan University in the year 2022.
- 32,291 students applied to Chicago University in the year 2022.
- The acceptance rate of Boston University is 22.47%, while that of Boston College is 27.10% in the year 2022.
- In the year 2022, Virginia University admitted 9,850 students.
- 3,116 students were admitted to Duke University in the year 2021.
- The admission rate of the students at Caltech University in the year 2021 was 7.15. In the year 2022, it was only 6.55%.
The following table highlights the admission rates, volume of applications, and the number of admitted students in different colleges in the United States in the years 2021 and 2022.
University | 2021 Admit | Volume of application (2021) | 2021 Admit rates(%) | 2022 Admit | Volume of application (2022) | 2022 Admit rates(%) |
American | 5,421 | 18,692 | 29.00 | 5,496 | 18,950 | 29.00 |
Babson | 1,722 | 7,122 | 24.18 | 1,532 | 6,383 | 24.00 |
Boston College | 9,200 | 28,500 | 32.28 | 8,400 | 31,000 | 27.10 |
Boston University | 15,203 | 60,815 | 25.00 | 14,484 | 64,473 | 22.47 |
BYU | 7,317 | 13,707 | 53.38 | 7,668 | 11,784 | 65.07 |
Caltech | 525 | 7,339 | 7.15 | 537 | 8,200 | 6.55 |
Carnegie Mellon | 4,836 | 35,740 | 13.53 | 7,350 | 43,169 | 17.03 |
Case Western | 8,405 | 25,380 | 33.12 | 7,994 | 26,646 | 30.00 |
Chicago | 2,419 | 27,694 | 8.73 | 2,329 | 32,291 | 7.21 |
Duke | 3,116 | 34,406 | 9.06 | 3,097 | 37,302 | 8.30 |
Emory | 5,172 | 23,694 | 21.83 | 5,135 | 27,759 | 18.50 |
Florida | 13,214 | 34,000 | 38.86 | 14,866 | 40,849 | 36.39 |
Georgetown | 3,313 | 21,465 | 15.43 | 3,327 | 22,897 | 14.53 |
Georgia | 13,052 | 24,165 | 54.01 | 12,700 | 26,500 | 47.92 |
Georgia Tech | 7,297 | 31,484 | 23.18 | 7,832 | 35,600 | 22.00 |
GWU | 11,031 | 27,000 | 40.86 | 11,100 | 26,555 | 41.80 |
Johns Hopkins | 3,117 | 26,578 | 11.73 | 2,894 | 29,128 | 9.94 |
Michigan | 14,000 | 58,590 | 23.89 | 15,468 | 65,684 | 23.55 |
Northeastern | 14,876 | 54,209 | 27.44 | 11,780 | 62,268 | 18.92 |
Northwestern | 3,371 | 37,050 | 9.10 | 3,392 | 40,425 | 8.39 |
Notre Dame | 3,600 | 19,565 | 18.40 | 3,586 | 20,370 | 17.60 |
NYU | 18,520 | 67,232 | 27.55 | 15,722 | 75,037 | 20.95 |
Rice | 2,864 | 18,063 | 15.86 | 2,328 | 20,923 | 11.13 |
Tufts | 3,128 | 21,101 | 14.82 | 3,143 | 21,501 | 14.62 |
Tulane | 7,477 | 35,605 | 21.00 | 6,792 | 38,813 | 17.50 |
UC Berkeley | 15,567 | 85,054 | 18.30 | 13,582 | 89,294 | 15.21 |
UC Davis | 30,945 | 70,968 | 43.60 | 32,179 | 77,727 | 41.40 |
UC Irvine | 31,103 | 85,097 | 36.55 | 27,334 | 94,866 | 28.81 |
UC Los Angeles | 16,494 | 102,232 | 16.13 | 16,020 | 113,409 | 14.13 |
UC San Diego | 30,204 | 88,463 | 34.14 | 29,577 | 97,670 | 30.28 |
UC Santa Barbara | 26,879 | 81,828 | 32.85 | 29,782 | 92,017 | 32.37 |
UNC | 9,709 | 40,918 | 23.73 | 9,519 | 43,472 | 21.90 |
USC | 9,042 | 56,676 | 15.95 | 8,258 | 64,256 | 12.85 |
Vanderbilt | 3,415 | 31,462 | 10.85 | 3,060 | 34,346 | 8.91 |
Villanova | 7,605 | 21,123 | 36.00 | 6,568 | 22,727 | 28.90 |
Virginia | 9,957 | 13,071 | 27.05 | 9,850 | 37,222 | 26.46 |
Wake Forest | 3,604 | 13,071 | 27.57 | 3,600 | 12,900 | 27.91 |
Washington University in St. Louis | 4,875 | 30,464 | 16.00 | 4,708 | 31,320 | 15.03 |
William & Mary | 5,220 | 14,915 | 35.00 | 5,270 | 16,640 | 31.67 |
Sources: NCES, US news.
College Enrollment In The United States – Admission Statistics
The college enrollment statistics give an insight into the number of students enrolled in different universities. In the following section, we have listed student enrollment statistics according to the institution type and gender of the students.
- 14.77 million have enrolled in public universities, while 5.26 million students have enrolled in private universities in the year 2022.
The following table gives details about the number of students that have enrolled in public and private colleges over the years.
Year | Public University | Private University |
2000 | 11.75 million | 3.56 million |
2005 | 13.02 million | 4.47 million |
2010 | 15.14 million | 5.88 million |
2011 | 15.12 million | 5.89 million |
2012 | 14.88 million | 5.76 million |
2013 | 14.75 million | 5.63 million |
2014 | 14.65 million | 5.55 million |
2015 | 14.57 million | 5.42 million |
2016 | 14.59 million | 5.26 million |
2017 | 14.57 million | 5.21 million |
2018 | 14.54 million | 5.11 million |
2019 | 14.5 million | 5.13 million |
2020 | 13.87 million | 5.12 million |
2021 | 14.98 million | 5.35 million |
2022 | 14.77 million | 5.26 million |
2025 | 14.72 million | 5.22 million |
2028 | 14.96 million | 5.32 million |
2030 | 15.1 million | 5.38 million |
- Around 1.22 million male students were enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in 2020.
- 1.92 million female students enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in the year 2020.
The following table highlights the number of male and female students enrolled in post-baccalaureate courses in U.S. universities over the past years.
Year | Male | Female |
2000 | 944,000 | 1,213,000 |
2005 | 1,047,000 | 1,476,000 |
2010 | 1,209,000 | 1,728,000 |
2011 | 1,210,000 | 1,722,000 |
2012 | 1,205,000 | 1,705,000 |
2013 | 1,201,000 | 1,700,000 |
2014 | 1,211,000 | 1,703,000 |
2015 | 1,222,000 | 1,720,000 |
2016 | 1,222,000 | 1,751,000 |
2017 | 1,220,000 | 1,785,000 |
2018 | 1,216,000 | 1,819,000 |
2019 | 1,214,000 | 1,854,000 |
2020 | 1,219,000 | 1,921,000 |
2021 | 1,326,000 | 1,988,000 |
2022 | 1,282,000 | 1,950,000 |
- 1.3 million males and 2.03 million females are expected to enroll in post-baccalaureate courses in U.S. universities in the year 2030.
Sources: NCES.
Undergraduate Enrollment In The US – Admission Statistics
Student enrollment statistics in the undergraduate course will help high school students know the details about the admission rates of the colleges they are aspiring to enroll in. Let us take a look at the enrollment rates of undergraduate colleges in the United States.
- 20.2 million students enrolled for the undergraduate degree in the academic year 2021- 2022.
- In the year 2021-2022, there was a decrease of 800,000 students as compared to the number of students enrolled in the previous year.
The following table highlights the number of students enrolled in undergraduate courses over the past years.
Academic Year | Number of Students Enrolled. |
2011 – 2012 | 24.8 million |
2012 – 2013 | 24.1 million |
2013 – 2014 | 23.7 million |
2014 – 2015 | 23.2 million |
2015 – 2016 | 22.8 million |
2016 – 2017 | 22.5 million |
2017 – 2018 | 22.2 million |
2018 – 2019 | 22.1 million |
2019 – 2020 | 21.8 million |
2020- 2021 | 21 million |
2021 – 2022 | 20.2 million |
- 107,300 students of American Indian origin or Alaskan Native heritage in the year 2020 enrolled in universities in the United States.
The following table highlights the number of students of different ethnicity enrolled in colleges in the United States in the year 2020.
Ethnicity | Number of students |
White | 8,115.2 |
Black | 1,998.5 |
Hispanic | 3,348.8 |
Asian/Pacific Islander | 1,144.2 |
American Indian/ Alaska Native | 107.3 |
Two or more races | 669 |
Nonresident alien | 468.9 |
Sources: NCES.
Related Read:
Wrapping Up: Admission Statistics (2023)
That’s all about admission statistics.
The colleges usually list the profiles of the admitted classes and other details like acceptance rates, total applicants, standardized test scores, average high school GPA, etc., on their official websites. You can check out these details to prepare for your dream college.
Moreover, the acceptance rate statistics will help you to know your chances of getting admitted into the top colleges in the nation. You will be able to determine the average profile of an admitted student by looking at the college’s admission statistics.
I hope that the article has helped you to answer the questions like “will I be able to get admitted into this college?” and “Is this a college where I have a fair chance of admission? ”.
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