Admissions & selectivity
Denison University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Denison University?
Denison University’s reported acceptance rate is 17.4%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 17.4%
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.
Source: Denison University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
At Denison University, the reported admission rate is 17.4%, below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 12,202 first-year applicants, 2,385 admitted applicants, and 623 enrolled students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Denison University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Denison University reported score ranges that describe enrolled first-year students who submitted them. SAT scores for the middle half ran from 1270 to 1420, with SAT submitters comprising 27% of the class.
The ACT range was 28 to 33 among the 19% who submitted ACT scores. Applicants should compare an SAT score with Denison University’s 1270 through 1420 range as context for recent enrolled submitters, rather than treating either figure as an admission minimum.
Among first-year students who reported a class rank, 45% were in the upper tenth of their high-school class and 78% were in the upper quarter. The score ranges cover only submitters, while the class-rank figures cover students who reported rank, so both describe parts of the enrolled class rather than cutoffs.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Denison University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
27% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1270
- Median
- 1360
- 75th percentile
- 1420
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
19% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 28
- Median
- 31
- 75th percentile
- 33
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Denison University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Denison University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 12.6%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 3.6%
- First-year retention
- 88.5%
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.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Denison University reported 284 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 58 admitted, and 23 enrolled. Those counts describe a defined transfer route alongside a predominantly non-transfer undergraduate population.
Federal enrollment data list 2,380 undergraduates. Pell Grant recipients account for 12.6% of undergraduates, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 3.6%.
The mix includes federally aided undergraduates and a smaller estimated group arriving after prior college study, without indicating admission priorities.
With a 78.9% six-year graduation rate for its first-time full-time cohort, Denison University sits above the 68.8% peer median for comparable institutions. Its first-year retention rate is 88.5%, compared with 83.4% at institutions in the same type and size.
Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete within six years at 79.8%, above the overall rate by 0.9 percentage points. Enrolled students can expect reported retention and completion measures that exceed the comparable-institution medians, with Pell completion also above the overall rate.
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.