US College Admissions Data

Glossary

Acceptance Rate

The percentage of applicants who are admitted to a particular college or university. It is calculated by dividing the number of accepted students by the total number of applicants and multiplying by 100. A lower acceptance rate generally indicates a more competitive admissions process.

Acceptance Year

Demonstrated on the table as "Class of XXXX", the acceptance year refers to the year in which a student is expected to graduate from college. For example, the "Class of 2028" refers to students who are expected to graduate in the year 2028, typically meaning they were accepted into college in the fall of 2024.

School

What the name of the university or college is commonly referred to as. For example, "MIT" is the common name for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Acceptance Rate Trend

The pattern of change in a school's acceptance rate over a period of time. An increasing trend indicates the school is becoming less competitive, while a decreasing trend indicates growing competitiveness.

N/A or TBA

The orignal data source collected acceptance rate information directly from the universities and verifiable sources. Any cell that says N/A or TBA indicates misleading information, and therefore no clear percentage could be provided.