The 2024 average acceptance rate of 4-year colleges is 72.43% - 8,107,254 students accepted out of total 13,882,917.
Compared to the acceptance rate of 10 years ago, the rate becomes higher from 65.65% to 72.43%. The U.S. colleges' yield, also known as enrollment rate, is 32.81% and the yield is lower than 40.50%, rate of 10 years ago.
Acceptance Rate Trends
The average acceptance rate over the last 10 years is 68.67% where the current academic year rate is 72.43% at U.S. colleges. By gender, men students' acceptance rate is 67.83% and women students' rate is 69.08%.
The following table and chart illustrate the acceptance rates changes at U.S. colleges over the past 11 years (2013-2024).
| Year | Total | Men | Women |
|---|
| 2013-14 |
65.65% |
65.18% |
65.26% |
|---|
| 2014-15 |
66.59%
0.94% |
65.65%
0.48% |
66.58%
1.32% |
|---|
| 2015-16 |
66.63%
0.04% |
65.72%
0.06% |
66.95%
0.37% |
|---|
| 2016-17 |
66.15%
-0.48% |
65.27%
-0.45% |
66.58%
-0.37% |
|---|
| 2017-18 |
67.16%
1.02% |
66.36%
1.10% |
67.36%
0.78% |
|---|
| 2018-19 |
66.99%
-0.17% |
66.62%
0.25% |
67.23%
-0.13% |
|---|
| 2019-20 |
68.33%
1.34% |
67.67%
1.05% |
68.64%
1.41% |
|---|
| 2020-21 |
70.41%
2.07% |
69.75%
2.09% |
70.89%
2.26% |
|---|
| 2021-22 |
72.56%
2.16% |
71.16%
1.41% |
73.54%
2.65% |
|---|
| 2022-23 |
72.46%
-0.10% |
71.54%
0.38% |
73.47%
-0.07% |
|---|
| 2023-24 |
72.43%
-0.03% |
71.26%
-0.28% |
73.33%
-0.13% |
|---|
| Average |
68.67% |
67.83% |
69.08% |
|---|
Admission Yield (Enrollment Rate) Changes
The average admission yield of the last 12 years is 36.12% where the current academic year yield is 32.81%. The yield, also known as enrollment rate is the percentage of admitted students who finally enrolled. The following table and chart illustrate the changes in yield at U.S. colleges from 2013 to 2024.
| Year | Total | Men | Women |
|---|
| 2013-14 |
40.50% |
41.99% |
37.56% |
|---|
| 2014-15 |
39.63%
-0.87% |
41.36%
-0.63% |
36.56%
-0.99% |
|---|
| 2015-16 |
38.79%
-0.84% |
40.37%
-0.99% |
35.52%
-1.04% |
|---|
| 2016-17 |
37.22%
-1.57% |
38.73%
-1.64% |
34.36%
-1.16% |
|---|
| 2017-18 |
36.75%
-0.47% |
38.16%
-0.56% |
33.81%
-0.55% |
|---|
| 2018-19 |
36.32%
-0.42% |
37.95%
-0.22% |
33.09%
-0.73% |
|---|
| 2019-20 |
35.15%
-1.18% |
36.54%
-1.41% |
32.00%
-1.08% |
|---|
| 2020-21 |
33.74%
-1.40% |
35.06%
-1.48% |
29.92%
-2.08% |
|---|
| 2021-22 |
33.32%
-0.42% |
35.22%
0.17% |
29.46%
-0.46% |
|---|
| 2022-23 |
33.03%
-0.29% |
34.55%
-0.67% |
29.30%
-0.16% |
|---|
| 2023-24 |
32.81%
-0.22% |
33.90%
-0.66% |
29.06%
-0.24% |
|---|
| Average |
36.12% |
37.62% |
32.79% |
|---|
Applicants, Admitted, and Enrolled Headcount Changes
The average number of applicants is 11,105,174, the average number of admitted is 6,353,914, and the average number of enrolled students is 1,578,579 over the last 10 years.
The number of applicants to U.S. colleges increased by 5.91% (774,960 applicants) compared to last year.
The following table and chart show the changes of applicants, admitted, and enrolled headcount at U.S. colleges from 2013 to 2024.
| Year | Applicants | Admitted | Enrolled |
|---|
| 2013-14 |
8,962,912 |
4,972,247 |
1,489,313 |
|---|
| 2014-15 |
9,386,743
4.73% |
5,223,164
5.05% |
1,509,878
1.38% |
|---|
| 2015-16 |
9,778,156
4.17% |
5,413,521
3.64% |
1,540,268
2.01% |
|---|
| 2016-17 |
10,281,955
5.15% |
5,704,550
5.38% |
1,554,752
0.94% |
|---|
| 2017-18 |
10,542,165
2.53% |
5,909,125
3.59% |
1,583,178
1.83% |
|---|
| 2018-19 |
11,147,404
5.74% |
6,171,679
4.44% |
1,609,800
1.68% |
|---|
| 2019-20 |
11,391,902
2.19% |
6,437,823
4.31% |
1,600,632
-0.57% |
|---|
| 2020-21 |
11,530,127
1.21% |
6,993,559
8.63% |
1,559,177
-2.59% |
|---|
| 2021-22 |
12,144,674
5.33% |
7,298,053
4.35% |
1,606,060
3.01% |
|---|
| 2022-23 |
13,107,957
7.93% |
7,662,076
4.99% |
1,638,850
2.04% |
|---|
| 2023-24 |
13,882,917
5.91% |
8,107,254
5.81% |
1,672,458
2.05% |
|---|
| Average |
11,105,174 |
6,353,914 |
1,578,579 |
|---|