Admissions & selectivity
Old Dominion University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Old Dominion University?
Old Dominion University’s reported acceptance rate is 90.4%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 90.4%
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: Old Dominion University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Old Dominion University admits 90.4% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 15,024 applicants, 13,725 admitted, and 2,697 enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Old Dominion University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 7% of enrolled first-year students submitted SAT scores, and 1% submitted ACT scores. The middle half of SAT submitters scored between 1120 and 1270.
For the small share who sent ACT results, the middle half ranged from 22 to 27. These ranges describe the enrolled students who chose to submit scores, not a minimum for admission or the profile of every enrolled student.
With such low submission rates, the figures reflect a narrow slice of the entering class. Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 12% placed in the highest tenth of their high school class and 35% in the highest quarter.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Old Dominion University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
7% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1120
- Median
- 1190
- 75th percentile
- 1270
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
1% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 22
- Median
- 25
- 75th percentile
- 27
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Old Dominion University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Old Dominion University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 36.8%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 40.2%
- First-year retention
- 76.9%
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.
Old Dominion University enrolls 17,514 undergraduates, a student body shaped by two large entry routes: Pell Grant recipients make up 36.8% of undergraduates, and an estimated 40.2% arrive as transfers. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 15,024 first-year applicants, 13,725 admitted, and 2,697 enrolled.
For transfer students, it reported 3,264 applicants, 2,868 admitted, and 1,696 enrolled. The composition suggests a campus where many students are continuing coursework begun elsewhere or using federal grant aid, rather than one defined by a single entry path.
Of full-time bachelor's-seeking entrants, 76.9% return for a second year, and 46.3% finish within six years. Both figures sit below the medians for comparable institutions, where retention is 83.1% and completion is 65.0%.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 79% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. Pell Grant recipients complete at 48.5%, which is 2.2 percentage points above the overall six-year rate.
Enrolled students can expect a campus where Pell students finish slightly ahead of the entering cohort as a whole, though overall completion lags behind peer institutions.
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.