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Admissions & selectivity

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# Northern Kentucky University Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated September 30, 2026

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

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## What is the acceptance rate at Northern Kentucky University?

Northern Kentucky University’s reported acceptance rate is 67.6%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
67.6%

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

Northern Kentucky University admitted 67.7% of applicants to the reported entering class, a lower rate than the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

## What SAT and ACT scores do Northern Kentucky University students report?

Test results from enrolled score submitters offer a practical reference for the academic profile at Northern Kentucky University, rather than a set of admission minimums. Applicants should use the school's submitted SAT range of 953 to 1,150 and submitted ACT range of 18 to 25 when judging how their scores compare with recent enrollees.

Each range covers the middle half of enrolled students who submitted that test, so it does not describe every student in the entering class. The figures show where many score submitters fell, but they are not cutoffs and do not state what score an applicant needs for admission.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Northern Kentucky 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**
953

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1150

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**
25

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

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at Northern Kentucky University?

**Pell Grant recipients**
25.2%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
40.3%

**First-year retention**
75.5%

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.

Northern Kentucky University enrolls 8,246 undergraduates, with an estimated 40.3% entering as transfers or part-time students. That estimated share suggests that students arriving after study elsewhere are a visible part of the undergraduate population, rather than a small edge case.

Pell Grant recipients account for 25.2% of undergraduates, placing financial-access needs alongside a substantial transfer presence. Applicants who are Pell-eligible or planning to transfer should compare their expected grant aid and transfer-credit evaluation before choosing an enrollment path.

The campus composition includes both aid recipients and students entering from prior college work.

For full-time students who start at Northern Kentucky University, both returning after the first year and finishing within six years run above the comparable-institution benchmarks. The first-year retention rate is 75.5%, compared with the peer median of 73.7%, the middle value for comparable institutions in the same type and size.

For the first-time full-time cohort, the [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) is 52.2%; the comparable-institution median is 49.1%. Pell recipients in that cohort have a six-year completion rate of 44.1%, below the overall rate by 8.1 percentage points.

Enrolled students can expect most members of the entering cohort to return for a second year, with degree completion over a longer timeframe. Above-peer retention and graduation rates point in the same direction, although Pell completion remains lower than the overall rate.

## 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/).