Admissions & selectivity
Stony Brook University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Stony Brook?
Stony Brook’s reported acceptance rate is 49.0%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 49.0%
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: Stony Brook University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Stony Brook University admits 49.0% of applicants, well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 64,197 applicants, 30,930 admitted, and 3,964 enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Stony Brook students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that the middle half of enrolled SAT submitters scored from 1350 to 1470. Those submitters made up 38% of the entering class.
The middle half of enrolled ACT submitters ran from 30 to 34, and those submitters were 4% of the class. Among enrolled first-year students with a reported class rank, 59% finished in the highest tenth of their high school class and 86% in the highest quarter.
These shares come from the 31% of the entering class who reported a class rank. Applicants can weigh their own SAT scores against the university's 1350 to 1470 range.
The corresponding ACT range for enrolled submitters is 30 to 34, so applicants with that test can use the same comparison.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Stony Brook. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
38% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1350
- Median
- 1410
- 75th percentile
- 1470
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
4% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 30
- Median
- 32
- 75th percentile
- 34
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Stony Brook University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Stony Brook?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 39.4%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 25.0%
- First-year retention
- 89.8%
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.
Stony Brook University admitted 49.0% of applicants, well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 64,197 first-year applicants, 30,930 admitted, and 3,964 enrolled.
The undergraduate enrollment of 18,101 includes a Pell share of 39.4% and an estimated transfer-in share of 25.0%, suggesting a campus that draws substantially from both first-time and continuing students. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 7,021 transfer applicants, 3,094 admitted, and 1,364 enrolled.
Applicants who are Pell-eligible or arriving as transfers should treat Stony Brook as a realistic target and prepare a complete application that addresses the university's published requirements.
Stony Brook University retains 89.8% of its first-time, full-time students into a second year, above the peer median of 83.1%. The six-year graduation rate for that cohort is 75.6%, also above the peer median of 65.0%.
Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate of 74.1%, which sits 1.5 percentage points below the overall six-year rate. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a retention rate of 89% for the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class.
For the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class, the six-year graduation rate reached 77.1%, with Pell Grant recipients in that cohort completing at 80.3%, above the overall rate. Enrolled students can expect a university where persistence and completion run ahead of peer norms, and where Pell recipients graduate at a rate close to the overall figure.
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.