Admissions & selectivity
Santa Clara University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Santa Clara University?
Santa Clara University’s reported acceptance rate is 48.0%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 48.0%
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: Santa Clara University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
With an admission rate of 48.0%, Santa Clara University admitted fewer than half of its reported applicant pool. That rate is below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 20,032 first-year applicants, 9,592 admitted applicants, and 1,641 enrolled students. The rate summarizes an applicant pool and cannot forecast an individual decision.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Santa Clara University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that enrolled SAT submitters in the middle half scored from 1330 to 1470; 29% of enrolled first-year students submitted SAT scores. The corresponding ACT range was 29 to 33, with scores submitted by 9% of the entering class.
These are ranges for enrolled score submitters, not admission minimums. The university reported an average high-school GPA of 3.72 among enrolled first-year students, with 100.0% reporting a GPA.
Among first-year students who reported a class rank, 47% were in the highest tenth and 74% were in the highest quarter; 3% of the entering class reported a rank. Of those with a reported rank, 91% were in the highest half.
Applicants should compare their scores with Santa Clara University’s 1330 through 1470 SAT range and 29 through 33 ACT range, remembering that each describes recent enrolled submitters.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Santa Clara University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
29% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1330
- Median
- 1410
- 75th percentile
- 1470
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
9% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 29
- Median
- 31
- 75th percentile
- 33
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Santa Clara University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Santa Clara University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 11.3%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 11.6%
- First-year retention
- 93.9%
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.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 1,206 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 780 admitted, and 247 enrolled. Santa Clara University has 6,552 undergraduates.
Pell Grant recipients account for 11.3% of undergraduates, and the estimated share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group is 11.6%. The mix suggests an undergraduate population that includes federal grant recipients as well as people continuing coursework begun elsewhere.
Pell-eligible applicants should request a grant estimate, and transfer applicants should verify how prior coursework will be reviewed before applying.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a 93% retention rate for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class. Federal data also show that 93.9% of full-time bachelor’s-seeking first-year students return, above the 83.4% peer median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.
The first-time full-time cohort has an 87.9% six-year graduation rate, above its 68.8% peer median. Pell recipients have an 85.8% six-year completion rate, below the overall rate by 2.1 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect retention and completion figures that exceed the comparable-institution medians. The return and completion picture is strong overall, though Pell completion is lower than 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.