Admissions & selectivity
Baylor University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Baylor?
Baylor’s reported acceptance rate is 51.3%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 51.3%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Baylor University admits 51.3% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Baylor students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that enrolled first-year students who submitted SAT scores ranged from 1190 to 1370. 47% of the entering class submitted SAT scores.
For the ACT, the middle half of enrolled submitters fell between 26 and 32, with 22% submitting those scores. These ranges come from enrolled students who submitted scores, not from the whole entering class.
Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 42% finished in the upper tenth of their high-school class and 76% in the upper quarter. Applicants can use the university's 1190 to 1370 SAT and 26 to 32 ACT ranges as context for their own scores. They describe enrolled submitters, not required scores.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Baylor. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
47% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1190
- Median
- 1280
- 75th percentile
- 1370
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
22% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 26
- Median
- 29
- 75th percentile
- 32
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Baylor University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Baylor?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 12.4%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 9.3%
- First-year retention
- 90.9%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Baylor University enrolls 14,785 undergraduates. Pell Grant recipients make up 12.4% of the student body, and an estimated 9.3% of undergraduates enter as transfers or part-time students.
The campus draws a mix of traditional first-year students and those who started elsewhere, with a Pell share that points to a moderate level of financial need among undergraduates. The admission rate is 51.3%, which sits below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 1,678 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 1,514 admitted, and 355 enrolled.
Most students who enroll at Baylor University complete a degree. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 80.0%, matching the 80.0% median for comparable institutions (same type and size).
The retention rate for the full-time bachelor's-seeking first-year cohort is 91.0%, above the median of 90.1% for comparable institutions. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 89% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.
Pell Grant recipients finish at 69.7%, which is 10.3 percentage points below the overall rate. Enrolled students can expect a university where most who begin a degree finish it.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.