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Admissions & selectivity

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# Berea College Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

[Overview](/school/berea-college/)[Cost & aid](/school/berea-college/cost/)[Outcomes](/school/berea-college/outcomes/)Admissions[Majors](/school/berea-college/majors/)[Similar schools](/school/berea-college/similar/)

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## What is the acceptance rate at Berea College?

Berea College’s reported acceptance rate is 19.3%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
19.3%

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

Berea College admits 19.3% of applicants, a rate far below the median of 75.7% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

## What SAT and ACT scores do Berea College students report?

Berea College enrolls students whose submitted test scores span a wide range, with the middle half of SAT submitters scoring between 1,156 and 1,335. For ACT submitters, the middle half falls between 23 and 28.

These ranges describe the twenty-fifth through seventy-fifth percentiles of enrolled students who provided scores, not a minimum threshold for admission. An applicant whose scores sit within or above these bands is looking at the same territory as a large share of recent entrants.

Because the figures reflect only those who chose to submit, they do not represent every enrolled student. Applicants can use Berea's own 1,156 to 1,335 SAT range as a point of comparison. Its ACT range is 23 to 28.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Berea College. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range

**Approximate lower endpoint**
1156

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1335

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

ACT: enrolled-student score range

**25th percentile**
23

**75th percentile**
28

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at Berea College?

**Pell Grant recipients**
83.7%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
10.1%

**First-year retention**
79.2%

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.

83.7% of undergraduates at Berea College receive Pell Grants. The college enrolls 1,513 undergraduates total, and an estimated 10.1% of them arrive as transfers or part-time students.

The entering class is made up mostly of first-year students who receive this federal grant aid. That pattern suggests a college where the majority qualify for this aid and begin their undergraduate coursework here.

Of full-time students who start at Berea College, 79.2% return for a second year and 58.2% finish within six years. Both figures sit above the medians for comparable institutions, which are 74.2% for retention and 54.9% for completion.

The [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) is the share of the first-time full-time cohort who complete a degree. Retention measures the share who return after the first year.

Enrolled students can expect persistence and completion rates that run ahead of what is typical at institutions of this size and control.

## Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: [methodology](/methodology/).

Analysis and methodology by [Daniel Rogers](/about/#founder), 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](/about/).