Admissions & selectivity
Norfolk State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Norfolk State University?
Norfolk State University’s reported acceptance rate is 87.8%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 87.8%
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
Norfolk State University admits 87.8% of applicants, close to the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do Norfolk State University students report?
Enrolled students who submitted SAT scores had a middle range of 823 to 1,030. For those who submitted ACT scores, the range was 16 to 22.
These figures show the twenty-fifth and seventy-fifth percentiles of recent score submitters, not admission cutoffs. An applicant can use Norfolk State's own 823 to 1,030 SAT range and 16 to 22 ACT range as a point of comparison against recent enrolled submitters.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Norfolk State University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 823
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1030
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.
- 25th percentile
- 16
- 75th percentile
- 22
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at Norfolk State University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 65.0%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 19.4%
- First-year retention
- 72.6%
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.
Norfolk State University is a public university in Norfolk, Virginia, enrolling 5,392 undergraduates. The student body draws heavily from federal grant aid: 65.0% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
An estimated 19.4% enter as transfers or part-time students, so a notable share of the campus did not start as first-time freshmen.
Of full-time bachelor's-seeking entrants, 72.6% return for a second year. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 38.5%.
Both figures sit below the medians for comparable institutions (same type and size), which are 73.7% for retention and 49.1% for completion. Pell recipients in the same entering cohort complete at 40.6%, which is 2.1 percentage points above the overall rate.
Enrolled students can expect a campus where Pell recipients complete at a rate that slightly exceeds 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.