Admissions & selectivity
University of Nebraska at Kearney Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at University of Nebraska at Kearney?
University of Nebraska at Kearney’s reported acceptance rate is 89.5%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 89.5%
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.
Source: University of Nebraska at Kearney Common Data Set 2024-25, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, University of Nebraska at Kearney reported 5,283 first-year applicants, of whom 4,728 were admitted. The federal admission rate of 89.5% means most applicants in its reporting group were admitted.
It sits above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size). The rate summarizes that reporting group rather than predicting an individual admission decision.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled University of Nebraska at Kearney students report?
In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported an average high-school GPA of 3.54 among enrolled first-year students who reported a GPA, a reference point rather than a cutoff. Among first-year students with a reported class rank, 21% were in the highest tenth of their high-school class, and 45% were in the highest quarter.
Applicants comparing ACT results can use the 19 to 26 range for enrolled first-year students who submitted ACT scores; 82% submitted an ACT score. For SAT submitters, the corresponding enrolled-student range was 915 to 1125, and 2% submitted SAT scores. These ranges describe recent score submitters, not minimums for admission.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at University of Nebraska at Kearney. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
2% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 915
- Median
- 1080
- 75th percentile
- 1125
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
82% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 19
- Median
- 22
- 75th percentile
- 26
CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: University of Nebraska at Kearney Common Data Set 2024-25, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at University of Nebraska at Kearney?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 36.9%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 25.9%
- First-year retention
- 80.0%
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.
Financial access and transfer entry are both visible in the undergraduate mix at University of Nebraska at Kearney. Pell Grant recipients account for 36.9% of undergraduates, while an estimated 25.9% enter after beginning college elsewhere.
The university enrolls 4,088 undergraduates, a composition that includes students arriving through more than one route. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 614 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 366 admitted, and 296 enrolled.
Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should compare their aid and transfer-credit plans with the university’s published options before applying. The Pell share and estimated transfer presence point to a campus serving both aid recipients and students continuing a prior college path.
Students who return after their first year do so at a rate above that of comparable institutions. The first-year retention rate is 80.0%, above the peer median of 73.7% for comparable institutions.
For the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year graduation rate is 57.7%, also above the peer median of 49.1%. Pell recipients in that cohort have a six-year completion rate of 48.2%, below the overall rate by 9.5 percentage points.
Enrolled students can expect first-year persistence and six-year completion figures that exceed peer medians, alongside a lower completion rate for Pell recipients. Above-peer retention and graduation rates point in the same direction, while the Pell completion figure remains lower than the overall result.
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.