Admissions & selectivity
Vanderbilt University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Vanderbilt University?
Vanderbilt University’s reported acceptance rate is 5.9%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 5.9%
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: Vanderbilt University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Vanderbilt University admitted 5.9% of applicants in the most recent cycle, a rate below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 48,196 applicants, 2,593 admitted, and 1,635 enrolled.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Vanderbilt University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Vanderbilt University reported an average high-school GPA of 3.90 for enrolled first-year students, drawn from the 99.8% who reported one. That average reflects those who submitted a GPA, not a cutoff for admission.
Among the 20% of the entering class who reported a high-school class rank, 91% were in the top tenth and 95% were in the upper quarter. SAT submitters in the enrolled class posted scores from 1510 to 1560, and 24% submitted SAT scores.
The ACT range for the 28% who submitted those scores was 34 to 35. Applicants should read the university’s SAT range from 1510 to 1560 and its ACT range from 34 to 35 as profiles of recent enrolled submitters, not as admission minimums.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Vanderbilt University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
24% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1510
- Median
- 1530
- 75th percentile
- 1560
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
28% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 34
- Median
- 35
- 75th percentile
- 35
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Vanderbilt University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Vanderbilt University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 20.2%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 18.0%
- First-year retention
- 96.3%
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.
Vanderbilt University enrolls 7,208 undergraduates. 20.2% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 18.1% arrive as transfers or part-time students.
The campus is built around a first-year entry path, with a smaller transfer population alongside it. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 48,196 first-year applicants, 2,593 admitted, and 1,635 enrolled.
For transfer applicants, it reported 3,177 applicants, 831 admitted, and 446 enrolled.
At Vanderbilt University, 96.3% of students who start full time return for a second year, above the peer median of 83.4% for comparable institutions (same type and size). 93.5% of the first-time full-time cohort finish within six years, above the peer median of 68.8%.
Pell students in the cohort finish at 91.6%, 1.9 percentage points below the overall six-year rate. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a six-year graduation rate of 92.6% for the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class; Pell recipients finished lower, at 90.4%.
An enrolled student can expect an institution where nearly everyone returns after the first year and most finish a degree within six years.
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.