Admissions & selectivity
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at WPI?
WPI’s reported acceptance rate is 60.2%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 60.2%
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
More than half of applicants were admitted to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, whose reported admission rate was 60.2%. Against the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size), the university's rate is lower.
What SAT and ACT scores do WPI students report?
SAT and ACT ranges are not available for WPI in the data shown here. Missing scores do not establish whether tests are required, optional or excluded from review.
Figures cover fall 2024.
Who enrolls at WPI?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 11.9%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 5.3%
- First-year retention
- 93.7%
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.
At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Pell Grant recipients account for 11.9% of 5,447 undergraduates, and an estimated 5.3% enter as transfers or part-time students. The Pell figure is a financial-access measure: it counts undergraduates receiving Pell Grants.
That pairing describes a campus with a small Pell-recipient share and a limited transfer-in route, rather than an enrollment mix built around either group. These enrollment figures describe who attends rather than admission priorities or an individual application decision.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute shows strong continuation through the first year: 93.7% of its full-time bachelor’s-seeking first-year cohort returned, above the 83.4% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Completion also runs ahead of that benchmark, with an 89.7% six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort and a 68.8% peer median.
Pell recipients in the cohort completed within six years at 82.4%, below the overall rate by 7.3 percentage points. Enrolled students can expect prior cohorts to have returned and completed at rates above the relevant peer medians, alongside a lower completion rate for Pell recipients.
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.