Admissions & selectivity
University of Missouri-Columbia Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at University of Missouri-Columbia?
University of Missouri-Columbia’s reported acceptance rate is 78.5%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 78.5%
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
The University of Missouri-Columbia admits 78.5% of applicants, a rate that sits near the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The university is broadly accessible, and the admission rate reflects that character.
What SAT and ACT scores do University of Missouri-Columbia students report?
The University of Missouri-Columbia draws from a broad academic spectrum. Among enrolled students who submitted scores, the middle half of SAT scores ranges from 1,150 to 1,330.
The middle half of ACT scores ranges from 23 to 30. These ranges describe the enrolled class, not a set of minimum requirements.
An applicant whose scores sit within those bands is in the company of recent entering students, while scores above or below still fall within the wider class profile.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at University of Missouri-Columbia. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
- Approximate lower endpoint
- 1150
- Approximate upper endpoint
- 1330
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.
- 25th percentile
- 23
- 75th percentile
- 30
Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at University of Missouri-Columbia?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 20.1%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 17.8%
- First-year retention
- 92.7%
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.
University of Missouri-Columbia enrolls 23,929 undergraduates. 20.1% of them receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 17.8% enter as transfers or part-time students.
The student body draws from both traditional first-year entrants and people continuing coursework begun elsewhere, alongside a share of students using federal grant aid.
First-year retention at University of Missouri-Columbia runs at 92.7%, well above the median of 83.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 74.9%, also above the median of 65.0% for comparable institutions.
Most students who start at the university return for a second year, and nearly three-quarters finish within six years. Pell Grant recipients in the same entering cohort complete at a rate of 62.8%, which is below the overall six-year rate by 12.1 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect a university where persistence is the norm and where graduation outcomes for the entering class as a whole exceed those of comparable 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.