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Admissions & selectivity

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# McNeese State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

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

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## What is the acceptance rate at McNeese State University?

McNeese State University’s reported acceptance rate is 78.3%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
78.3%

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

McNeese State University admits 78.3% of applicants. The median for comparable institutions (same type and size) is 85.9%, so the university is somewhat more selective than its peer group.

## What SAT and ACT scores do McNeese State University students report?

For enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle half scored between 940 and 1,198. Among ACT submitters, the corresponding range is 18 to 23.

These are the twenty-fifth through seventy-fifth percentiles of submitted scores, not minimums for admission. Applicants can use McNeese State University's own 940 to 1,198 SAT range and 18 to 23 ACT range as context. The figures describe only those enrolled students who chose to submit scores.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at McNeese State 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**
940

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1198

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**
18

**75th percentile**
23

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

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at McNeese State University?

**Pell Grant recipients**
34.6%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
24.8%

**First-year retention**
68.4%

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.

McNeese State University enrolls 5,005 undergraduates, and an estimated 24.8% of them arrive as transfers or part-time students. 34.6% receive Pell Grants.

The composition is a public university where a large share of the student body did not start as first-time freshmen. Federal grant aid reaches more than a third of undergraduates.

At McNeese State University, 68.4% of full-time bachelor's-seeking entrants return for a second year. The [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) for the first-time full-time cohort is 47.0%.

Both figures trail the medians for comparable institutions, which are 73.7% for retention and 49.1% for completion. Pell Grant recipients in the first-time full-time cohort complete at 42.8%, a gap of 4.2 percentage points below the overall rate.

A student enrolling here should know that Pell students have finished at a somewhat lower rate than their peers.

## 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/).