Admissions & selectivity
Illinois State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Illinois State?
Illinois State’s reported acceptance rate is 88.1%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 88.1%
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: Illinois State University Common Data Set 2024-25, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Illinois State University admits 88.1% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 21,573 applicants, 19,017 admitted students, and 4,285 enrolled first-year students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Illinois State students report?
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported a 3.62 average high-school GPA among enrolled first-year students, with 99.7% of the class reporting a GPA. This is an average, not a cutoff.
The middle half of enrolled SAT submitters scored between 1010 and 1210, and 44% of the entering class submitted SAT scores. For the ACT, the middle half of submitters scored from 21 to 27, with 8% of the class submitting scores.
These ranges describe the students who chose to send scores, not a threshold for admission.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Illinois State. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
44% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1010
- Median
- 1110
- 75th percentile
- 1210
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
8% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 21
- Median
- 24
- 75th percentile
- 27
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Illinois State University Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Illinois State?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 32.1%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 29.7%
- First-year retention
- 81.4%
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.
Illinois State University enrolls 19,057 undergraduates, with 32.1% receiving Pell Grants and an estimated 29.7% entering as transfers or part-time students. The student body draws from a mix of entry points and financial backgrounds.
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 3,492 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 3,161 admitted, and 1,788 enrolled.
First-year retention at Illinois State University is 81.4%, below the median of 83.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The six-year graduation rate is 64.5%, just under the peer median of 65.0%.
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported a six-year graduation rate of 64.5% for the first-time, full-time fall 2018 entering class. Within that cohort, Pell recipients completed at 52.0%, below the rate for the cohort as a whole.
Pell recipients complete at 65.8%, 1.3 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. Enrolled students can expect a campus where most who start full time return for a second year and a majority finish within six years.
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.