A majority of U.S. colleges admit most students who apply

Pew Research analysis of 2017 admissions data shows that most U.S. colleges accept the majority of students who apply. Over half (53.3%) of four-year institutions admitted at least two-thirds of applicants, including large public universities and mid-sized private schools. By contrast, only 17 schools admitted fewer than 10% of their applicants, and just 29 schools admitted between 10% and 20% of their applicants. These highly selective institutions make up only 3.4% of all colleges and enroll just 4.1% of students.

Key findings include:

• Most institutions are accessible. More than half of colleges admitted two-thirds or more of applicants.
• Selective schools are rare. Fewer than 50 institutions admitted under 20% of applicants, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, and UC Berkeley.
• Nearly half of schools saw declining admission rates between 2002 and 2017, but about one-third became less selective.
• Falling acceptance rates largely reflect students applying to more schools, rather than a greater institutional selectivity.

These findings underscore that while elite universities dominate headlines, the broader reality is that most four-year colleges in the U.S. admit a majority of their applicants.