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Admissions & selectivity

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# Saginaw Valley State University Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Updated October 1, 2026

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

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## What is the acceptance rate at Saginaw Valley State University?

Saginaw Valley State University’s reported acceptance rate is 72.1%.

**Acceptance rate · Fall 2024**
72.1%

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

Saginaw Valley State University accepts 72.1% of those who apply, a proportion that falls short of the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university turns away a larger share of applicants than the typical peer, even though most who apply receive an offer.

## What SAT and ACT scores do Saginaw Valley State University students report?

Saginaw Valley State University enrolls students across a wide academic range, with the middle half of those who submitted SAT scores earning between 920 and 1,170. For the ACT, the middle half of submitted scores falls between 18 and 26.

These ranges describe the enrolled class, not a set of minimum requirements. Applicants whose own scores sit within or above these bands can see them as a useful benchmark for the profile of recent entering students.

The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Saginaw Valley State 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**
920

**Approximate upper endpoint**
1170

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**
26

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

Figures cover fall 2024.

## Who enrolls at Saginaw Valley State University?

**Pell Grant recipients**
35.2%

**Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group**
21.4%

**First-year retention**
77.6%

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.

35.2% of undergraduates at Saginaw Valley State University receive Pell Grants. The university enrolls 5,989 undergraduates, and an estimated 21.4% enter as transfers or part-time students.

Those two streams mean the campus draws students straight from high school and students who have already spent time at another college. That mix points to a student body with more than one kind of entry experience, rather than a single dominant path. These numbers show who enrolls, not how the admissions office makes decisions.

Among first-time full-time students, 77.6% return for a second year, above the peer median of 73.7%. The [six-year graduation rate](/analysis/what-the-graduation-rate-doesnt-count/) for that cohort is 48.2%, close to the peer median of 49.1%.

Pell Grant recipients in the same entering cohort complete at a rate of 39.3%, which is below the overall six-year rate by 8.9 percentage points. The gap is a fact of the data, not a judgment on the university's support systems.

Enrolled students can expect a university where first-year persistence runs ahead of comparable institutions, and where graduation outcomes for the entering class as a whole sit near the peer midpoint. The Pell completion gap means students who bring financial need should seek out the advising and academic support resources that help close that distance.

## 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/).