How hard is Penn State to get into?
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (Penn State) acceptance rate is 54.22% for 2023-2024 admission. A total of 85,956 students applied and 46,605 were admitted to the school. It means that your chances of getting into Penn State is not low.
Penn State's acceptance rate places 15th out of 120 Pennsylvania colleges with competitive admission.
The median SAT score is 1310 and the ACT score is 29 at Penn State. Penn State's SAT score ranks 14th out of 91 Pennsylvania colleges that consider SAT score for admission.
To apply to Penn State, it is required to submit high school GPA and record. The SAT and ACT score is not required, but considered for admission. In addition, english proficiency test score is also considered (required).
Admission Statistics
For the academic year 2023-24, Penn State's acceptance rate is 54.22% and the yield (also known as enrollment rate) is 19.40%. 39,869 men and 45,333 women applied to Penn State and 20,636 men and 25,578 women students were accepted.
Among them, 4,470 men and 4,490 women were enrolled in Penn State (Fall 2023).
Data source: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) (Last update: December 11, 2024)
Median SAT and ACT Score
In 2024, 2,976 students (33% of enrolled) have submitted their SAT scores and 504 students (6%) have submitted their ACT scores for seeking degrees at Penn State.
The median SAT score is 1,310 with 650 SAT EBRW and 660 SAT Math median scores. The 75th percentile SAT score of EBRW (Evidence-Based Reading / Writing) is 690 and the 25th percentile is 610. The SAT Math 75th percentile score is 710 and 25th percentile is 610 .
The median ACT composite score is 29 with 75th percentile score of 32 and 25th percentile score of 27 at Penn State. The median ACT math score is 28 and the ACT English score is 30.
How competitive is Penn State's score?
The SAT and ACT scores at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus are similar to the average score compared to similar colleges (SAT: 1,255, ACT: 27 - public research university with very high research activity).
Data source: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) (Last update: December 11, 2024)
First-year Enrollment by Gender and Enrolled Type
For the academic year 2023-24, total 9,040 first-year students enrolled in Penn State. The proportion of full-time students is 99.60% and part-time students is 0.40%.
By gender, the proportion of men students is 49.45% and women students is 49.67%.
The following table shows the first-year students by gender and enrolled type at Penn State.
Data source: IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) (Last update: December 11, 2024)
Application Requirements
It requires to submit High School GPA, High School Record (or Transcript), and English Proficiency Test to its applicants.
The SAT and ACT test score is not reqired, but considered in admission process at Penn State. The english proficiency test is reqired .
The next table summarizes the application requirements to apply Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus.
For more admission information such as minimum GPA and deadlines, see its online application page .
General Admissions Information
The application fee required to apply to Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is $65 for both undergraduate and graduate programs. The following table provides general admission information for applying to Penn State.