Admissions & selectivity
New York University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at NYU?
NYU’s reported acceptance rate is 9.2%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 9.2%
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: New York University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
New York University admitted 9.2% of applicants, a rate far below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 114,125 applicants, 10,340 admitted students, and 5,662 enrolled first-year students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled NYU students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, New York University reported that 27% of its entering class submitted SAT scores. The middle half of those SAT submitters scored from 1480 to 1550.
Among the 10% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half scored from 34 to 35. Far more of the entering class submitted SAT scores than ACT scores, so the SAT range describes more of the class.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at NYU. 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
- 1480
- Median
- 1520
- 75th percentile
- 1550
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
10% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 34
- Median
- 35
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: New York University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at NYU?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 17.9%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 15.0%
- First-year retention
- 95.8%
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.
New York University enrolls 28,663 undergraduates. An estimated 15.0% of them enter as transfers or part-time students, while Pell Grant recipients represent 17.9% of the undergraduate population.
Together these shares describe a student body that includes both recent high school graduates and students continuing from other colleges across a spectrum of family incomes. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 10,681 transfer applicants, 4,128 admitted transfer students, and 1,549 enrolled transfers.
That volume indicates that transferring from another institution is a common route into the university. Applicants who are Pell-eligible or planning to transfer should ask the admissions office how credits transfer and how aid packages align with their circumstances.
Students who enroll at New York University tend to persist and graduate at rates above those of comparable institutions, while Pell recipients complete below the overall average. 95.8% of first-time, full-time students return for a second year, a share that exceeds the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of 90.1%.
The six-year graduation rate for that cohort is 87.6%, surpassing the peer median of 80.0%. Among Pell Grant recipients in the same entering class, the six-year completion rate is 74.2%, trailing the overall rate by 13.4 percentage points.
Those who enroll should anticipate that the majority of their peers will persist and graduate, while recognizing that Pell recipients graduate at a lower 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.