Admissions & selectivity
North Carolina State University at Raleigh Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at NC State?
NC State’s reported acceptance rate is 41.7%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 41.7%
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
North Carolina State University at Raleigh admitted 41.7% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled NC State students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported score ranges for enrolled first-year students who submitted results. For the 11% who provided SAT scores, the middle half fell between 1310 and 1440.
Among the 29% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half ranged from 28 to 32. These ranges reflect the scores of enrolled students who chose to submit them, not admission thresholds.
Applicants should use the university's SAT range, 1310 to 1440, as context for recent enrolled submitters. The ACT range, 28 to 32, serves the same purpose.
Among enrolled first-year students who reported a high-school class rank, 40% placed in the top tenth, 77% in the upper quarter, and 96% in the upper half.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at NC State. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
11% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1310
- Median
- 1390
- 75th percentile
- 1440
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
29% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 28
- Median
- 30
- 75th percentile
- 32
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: North Carolina State University at Raleigh Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at NC State?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 19.6%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 22.4%
- First-year retention
- 94.5%
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.
Transfers make up an estimated 22.4% of the student body. 19.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.
The university enrolls 27,371 undergraduates. The enrolled population mixes students receiving federal grant aid with students who started their degrees at other colleges.
Both direct entrants and continuing students are represented across a range of financial backgrounds and academic pathways. No single entry route or income level defines the student body.
Pell-eligible applicants should check the net-price figures for their income band.
Once enrolled, students tend to stay. The university retains 94.5% of its first-year cohort, well above the peer median of 83.1% for comparable institutions.
The six-year graduation rate is 84.8%, compared with a peer median of 65.0%. Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate of 77.2%, which is 7.6 percentage points below the overall six-year rate.
The gap is a measured fact, not a judgment, and it sits alongside overall completion figures that outpace most peers. Incoming students can expect an environment where the vast majority return for a second year and where graduation within six years is the norm.
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.