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Admissions & selectivity

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# Lehigh University Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

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

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## What is the acceptance rate at Lehigh University?

Lehigh University’s reported acceptance rate is 25.9%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
25.9%

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.

First-year applicants and admitted students · CDS 2025-26

**Applicants**
19,342

**Admitted**
5,601

Source: Lehigh University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.

How to interpret the acceptance rate

Lehigh University admitted 25.9% of applicants, a rate below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 19,342 first-year applicants, 5,601 admitted applicants, and 1,535 enrolled students.

## What SAT and ACT scores do Lehigh University students report?

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 60% of enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank finished in the top tenth of their high school class. Among those who reported a rank, 87% placed in the upper fourth.

Only 23% of the enrolled first-year class reported a rank, so these shares describe a subset. Enrolled students who submitted SAT scores fell between 1,370 and 1,500.

Those who submitted ACT scores fell between 31 and 34. Both ranges describe enrolled submitters, not admission minimums.

Applicants should weigh their scores against the SAT range of 1,370 to 1,500 and the ACT range of 31 to 34, since both describe recent enrolled submitters rather than cutoffs.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Lehigh University. 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**
1370

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1500

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**
31

**75th percentile**
34

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

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at Lehigh University?

**Pell Grant recipients**
17.7%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
3.2%

**First-year retention**
93.7%

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.

Lehigh University has undergraduate enrollment of 5,898, and 17.7% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. An estimated 3.2% enter as transfers, indicating that most undergraduates begin through the first-year route, with Pell Grant recipients and transfer entrants both part of the campus mix.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 804 degree-seeking transfer applicants; 195 were admitted and 60 enrolled. The small estimated transfer share and the transfer counts both point to transfer entry as a limited, but present, route.

Students who start at Lehigh University tend to finish. The first-year retention rate is 93.7%, above the 83.4% median for comparable institutions.

The [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) for the first-time, full-time cohort is 87.9%, also above its peer median of 68.8%. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 94% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.

Pell Grant recipients complete at 84.3%, which is 3.6 percentage points below the rate for the cohort as a whole. Enrolled students join a cohort with completion rates well above the norm for comparable schools.

## 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/).