The average acceptance rate of the 80 Pennsylvania colleges that have competitive admission is 72.77% for the academic year 2023-2024. Compared to last year, the acceptance rate is lower by 0.6%. The acceptance rate at 29 Pennsylvania colleges increased and the rate of 50 colleges decreased.
University of Pennsylvania has the lowest (i.e. hard to admit) acceptance rate of 5.87%. Swarthmore College (6.94%) and Carnegie Mellon University (11.40%) are following it in the list of Tightest Pennsylvania 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.
University of Pennsylvania stays at first place of the lowest acceptance rate ranking since last year. Swarthmore College also maintained its second place in the ranking.
The average undergraduate tuition & fees of the schools is $64,423 and graduate tuition & fees is $37,609 for the academic year 2023-2024.
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 - | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PAPrivate, 4-year | 5.87% 0.63% | 69.25% | 1,540 | $66,104 | 28,201 | 96.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 2 - | Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PAPrivate, 4-year | 6.94% 0.01% | 41.83% | 1,530 | $62,412 | 1,625 | 93.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 3 - | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PAPrivate, 4-year | 11.40% 0.10% | 44.44% | 1,540 | $63,274 | 16,002 | 91.00% | 5 to 1 |
| 4 - | Haverford College Haverford, PAPrivate, 4-year | 12.91% 1.30% | 45.21% | 1,490 | $68,020 | 1,421 | 91.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 5 - | Villanova University Villanova, PAPrivate, 4-year | 25.12% 1.73% | 29.95% | 1,460 | $64,701 | 10,383 | 90.00% | 10 to 1 |
| 6 5 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PAPrivate, 4-year | 29.26% 7.72% | 28.41% | 1,430 | $62,180 | 7,394 | 91.00% | 10 to 1 |
| 7 1 | Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, PAPrivate, 4-year | 31.06% 0.31% | 35.46% | 1,390 | $62,560 | 1,742 | 82.00% | 8 to 1 |
| 8 - | Lafayette College Easton, PAPrivate, 4-year | 31.47% 2.16% | 22.43% | 1,410 | $61,824 | 2,729 | 89.00% | 10 to 1 |
| 9 1 | Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, PAPrivate, 4-year | 31.83% 4.40% | 18.82% | 1,390 | $68,380 | 1,990 | 85.00% | 9 to 1 |
| 10 3 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PAPrivate, 4-year | 32.01% 0.54% | 29.23% | 1,370 | $64,772 | 3,787 | 86.00% | 9 to 1 |
| Average | 21.79% | 36.50% | 1,455 | $64,423 | 7,527 | 89.40% | 9 to 1 |