Class of 2026 – Ivy League & Elite College Acceptance Rates

Welcome to College Transitions’ review of the 2022 Ivy League acceptance rates and other highly-selective colleges and universities for the 2021-22 cycle (Class of 2026). As of this posting in June of 2022, there are still many schools who have yet to report their initial results. As such, you will see a number of “TBD” designations in the charts below. These will be updated as soon as additional data becomes available.

For ED/REA Acceptance Rates Visit our blog from earlier in the year entitled: Class of 2026 – Ivy League & Elite College Early Decision Acceptance Rates.

What follows are two charts, both showing Class of 2026 and Class of 2025 data. One is for Ivy League schools and the other is for additional elite schools who are known for reporting their preliminary admissions information in a timely manner. We will also highlight trends and notable facts from schools that have reported their present-year acceptance rates.

2022 – Ivy League Acceptance Rates

Ivy League Admissions Facts & Trends:

Brown

• The students’ top 15 intended concentrations include: engineering/biomedical engineering; computer science; economics; political science; biology; biochemistry and molecular biology; international and public affairs; neuroscience; applied mathematics; public health; psychology; health and human biology; physics, English; and history.
• Of Brown’s 2,546 admitted students, 96% are in the top 10% of their high school classes.
• Students in the admitted Class of 2026 hail from all 50 U.S. states and from countries across the globe, with the most students from China, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Singapore and Ukraine, respectively.

Cornell

• The admitted Class of 2026 hailed from all 50 states and 85 countries.
• 57.7% of those admitted into the Class of 2026 identify as students of color.

 Columbia

• Students admitted are from all 50 states as well as 86 countries.
• The number of admitted students who identified as students of color increased by 4 percent over last year; first-generation college students increased by 3 percent; Pell-grant-eligible students increased by 2 percent; and the representation of international students also increased by 2 percent.
• The school received a total of 60,377 applications, virtually unchanged from last year’s historic 51 percent increase to 60,551 applications.

Dartmouth

• This year saw 21 fewer applications than last year’s number, which marked a record high of 28,357 applicants and a 33% increase from 2020.
• 63% of admitted students applied for need-based financial aid with an average projected scholarship of $61,000.
• 19% of admitted students living within the U.S. qualify for Pell Grants.

Harvard

• Applications to the College jumped by almost 7%, with 61,220 students submitting applications to the school, compared to 57,435 last year.
• 5% of admitted students are eligible for Pell Grants, up from 20.4% the previous year.
• Out of the admitted students, 20.3% will be the first in their families to go to college, down slightly from 20.7% the previous year.

Yale

• Admitted members of the class of 2026 hail from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and 58 countries.
• 1,000 students were offered seats on the college’s waitlist.
• The class will be joined by 46 students who were admitted during last year’s cycle but chose to defer their matriculation to fall 2022.

2022 – Non Ivy League Acceptance Rates

Highly-Selective Colleges & Universities Facts & Trends:

Duke

• The most represented states among admitted students are North Carolina, California, Florida, New York and Texas.
• The acceptance rate for those who applied Regular Decision to the Class of 2026 is 4.6%
• Despite the small increase in the number of applications, Duke offered admission to over 200 more students this year than it did last year.

Emory        

• Admitted students represented all 50 states and 112 countries.
• Applicants to Emory choose to apply to Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Oxford College or both. For the Class of 2026, 59% applied to both colleges, a growing trend in recent years.

MIT

• MIT saw a 2% increase in number of applicants from last year.
• The acceptance rate from this year is a slight decrease from last year (4.03%), with both marking a sharp decrease from pre-pandemic acceptance rates (approximately 7%).

NYU

• Three of NYU’s undergraduate colleges offered admission to fewer than 10% of applicants—including the College of Arts and Science (7%), the Stern School of Business (7%), and the Rory Meyers College of Nursing (3%)
• NYU expects that about 66% of domestic students on campus will identify as students of color.
• The admitted class of 2026 hails from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and represents 107 countries.

Northeastern

• Northeastern had to decrease the size of their freshman class by one-quarter, due to over enrollment the previous year.

Northwestern

• The acceptance rate continually declined from 23.1% to 8.4% between 2010 and 2018.
• Of the 1,598 students deferred in the REA process this year, 145 were ultimately admitted in the regular decision process.
• This year, 3,046 students were waitlisted in the regular decision process. Last year, 107 waitlisted students were eventually admitted.

Rice

• Rice has This year’s acceptance rate shows a decline from last year’s 3%and edges out the previous record low of 8.7% in 2019.
• The university has experienced a 74% increase over the past five years.

Tufts

• More than 6,500 forthcoming first-generation college students applied to Tufts this year, representing an increase of 23% since last year and 66% since 2020.
• Among regions in the U.S., the west, south and southwest boasted the highest increases in applications, rising 15%, 9% and 9%, respectively.
• The total number of applications eclipsed last year’s pool by more than 3,600 and represents a roughly 50% increase from two years ago.

University of Virginia

• 52% of offers were made to students of color — a record percentage for the University. Last year, 41% of accepted students were applicants of color.
• In total, 42% of applicants opted to not submit standardized test scores, and 26% of the offers were given to students who chose to not submit standardized test scores.
• The University extended 1,460 offers — 15% of total offers — to students who will be the first in their families to attend college. Last year, 1,162 of those accepted — 12.5% — were first-generation college students.

Some additional Class of 2026 acceptance rates for members of the single-digit acceptance rate club…

• Barnard College: 8%
• Colby College: 8%
• Johns Hopkins University: 7%
• Swarthmore College: 7%
• Tulane University: 9%
• University of Chicago: 5%
• Vanderbilt: 6%
• Williams College: 9%

Check back for more updates on Class of 2026 Ivy League Acceptance Rates as they become public.