Emory University ended the 2025 admissions cycle in an unusual position. Application volume grew 12 percent across the five-year window from Fall 2021 to Fall 2025, the published admit rate compressed from 13.1 percent to 10.3 percent, and the entering class size barely moved (1,494 to 1,443). The institutional story over these years is shaped less by raw selectivity and more by three structural choices that make Emory distinctive. These are its two-campus undergraduate model, its continued reliance on test-optional admissions while Georgia’s public universities reversed course, and its September 2025 announcement that families earning $200,000 or less will pay no tuition starting Fall 2026.
This paper examines what Emory’s Common Data Sets reveal about how the university has actually changed (and not changed) over five admissions cycles. We also look beyond the CDS to several developments that matter for the next two cycles: the post-SCOTUS demographic shift, the Emory Advantage Plus tuition initiative, and the role of binding early decision in shaping the entering class.
The headline numbers
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| Applications | 33,435 | 33,179 | 33,255 | 34,614 | 37,561 |
| Admits | 4,364 | 3,767 | 3,543 | 3,562 | 3,869 |
| Admit rate | 13.1% | 11.4% | 10.7% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| Enrolled | 1,494 | 1,424 | 1,426 | 1,438 | 1,443 |
| Yield | 34.2% | 37.8% | 40.2% | 40.4% | 37.3% |
| Waitlist offered | 6,539 | 6,448 | 5,875 | 6,098 | 7,608 |
| Waitlist accepted | 3,883 | 3,388 | 3,372 | 3,355 | 6,422 |
| Waitlist admitted | 21 | 107 | 123 | 109 | 274 |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section C. Applications, admits, and enrollment figures reflect the entire undergraduate university, which encompasses both Emory College of Arts and Sciences (Atlanta) and Oxford College (Oxford, GA).
Two patterns stand out. The steady tightening of the admit rate from Fall 2021 through Fall 2024 was driven less by application volume (essentially flat at roughly 33,200 through Fall 2023) and more by Emory’s decision to admit fewer students each year as yield improved. The university trimmed admits from 4,364 to 3,543 across three cycles while yield rose from 34 to 40 percent. Then in Fall 2025, applications jumped 8.5 percent to 37,561, Emory expanded admits proportionally to 3,869, and the admit rate held flat at 10.3 percent. The signal is that the university is calibrating to a target class of roughly 1,440, not chasing the lowest possible acceptance rate.
The waitlist story shifted noticeably in Fall 2025. Emory pulled 274 students off the list, more than double the prior four-year average, and the number of applicants who accepted a spot on the waitlist nearly doubled to 6,422. This tracks with a national pattern in the 2025 cycle in which a tighter yield environment, partly attributable to FAFSA delays the prior year, drove top universities to lean harder on waitlists for enrollment management.
The two-campus structure (and why the headline rate misleads)
Emory is the only major research university where entering first-year students can choose between two distinct undergraduate experiences through a single application. Emory College of Arts and Sciences sits on the main Atlanta campus alongside the graduate schools. Oxford College, in Oxford, Georgia (about 36 miles east of Atlanta on Emory’s original 1836 campus), enrolls roughly 425 first-year students annually in a small-college, two-year program; Oxford students then move to the Atlanta campus as juniors to complete bachelor’s degrees in Emory College, the Goizueta Business School, or the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.
Applicants can apply to Emory College, Oxford, or both. Admissions decisions are made independently at each campus, and a meaningful share of admitted students are admitted to both. For the Class of 2029, Emory’s news release reported 5,658 admitted students across all rounds, with 3,621 at Emory College, 3,142 at Oxford, and 1,105 admitted to both. The CDS reports 3,869 unique admits and a 10.3 percent admit rate by a different counting convention; the 14.95 percent figure in press coverage reflects yet another.
The practical implication is significant. Oxford historically admits roughly the same number of students as Emory College and applies similar academic standards, but draws a smaller and somewhat different applicant pool. Strong students who fit Emory’s profile but might be wait-listed or denied at the Atlanta campus often gain admission through Oxford. Applying to both maximizes the odds of admission without diluting the academic signal.
Test policy and the score profile
Emory went test-optional in the 2020-21 cycle and has extended that policy every year since. The December 2025 announcement keeps Emory test-optional through the 2026-27 cycle, the seventh consecutive year. The regional context makes that choice meaningful. Georgia’s selective public universities have moved the other way. The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech never dropped their testing requirement, and beginning with Fall 2026 admissions the University System of Georgia reinstated mandatory scores at four more of its campuses, including Georgia State, Augusta, Kennesaw State, and Georgia Southern. Among private Southern peers, Emory, Vanderbilt, Duke, and Wake Forest have so far held the test-optional line.
Among enrolled students who submitted scores, the score profile crept upward across the window. The 25th-percentile SAT moved from 1430 to 1480; the 25th-percentile ACT from 32 to 33. The share of enrolled students submitting any test also grew modestly, from 64 percent to 68 percent. Both reflect what self-selection produces in a test-optional regime. Students with strong scores submit, those without do not, and the reported median rises without telling us much about the underlying applicant pool.
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| % submitting SAT | 37% | 41% | 42% | 43% | 47% |
| % submitting ACT | 27% | 23% | 19% | 20% | 21% |
| SAT 25th-75th | 1430-1530 | 1450-1530 | 1470-1540 | 1480-1540 | 1480-1540 |
| ACT 25th-75th | 32-34 | 32-34 | 32-34 | 32-35 | 33-35 |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section C9-C11. Submission percentages and 25th/75th percentile scores reflect enrolled first-year students who submitted scores.
For applicants weighing whether to submit, the math is straightforward. Below the 25th-percentile cutoff (1480 SAT, 33 ACT), the decision to submit becomes harder to justify; above those marks, scores add an affirmative signal. Emory continues to superscore both exams and accepts self-reported scores.
What Emory says counts (and the post-SCOTUS shift)
Emory’s C7 has been broadly stable across the five years, with one consequential change. Through the Fall 2023 cycle, Emory listed racial/ethnic status as a Considered factor. Following the Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, Emory removed the factor for the 2023-24 reporting year, consistent with its public commitment to comply with the decision while assembling diverse classes through race-neutral means.
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| Rigor of HS record | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Academic GPA | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Standardized test scores | Important | Important | Important | Important | Important |
| Application essay | Important | Important | Important | Important | Important |
| Recommendations | Important | Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Extracurricular activities | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Character/personal qualities | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Talent/ability | Important | Important | Very Important | Very Important | Very Important |
| Volunteer work | Considered | Considered | Important | Important | Important |
| Level of interest | Not Considered | Not Considered | Not Considered | Not Considered | Not Considered |
| Racial/ethnic status | Considered | Considered | Removed | Removed | Removed |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section C7. Selected factors only. “Removed” indicates the factor is no longer listed in the CDS, consistent with Emory’s compliance with the June 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
Three other shifts in the C7 are worth flagging. Recommendations and talent/ability both moved from Important to Very Important in the 2023-24 reporting year and have held there since; volunteer work moved from Considered to Important. The combined message is that Emory is leaning harder on the qualitative file (recommendations, demonstrated talent, sustained community engagement) to differentiate among academically qualified applicants.
Level of applicant’s interest has remained Not Considered throughout the window, so demonstrated-interest tracking is not part of Emory’s formal process. That said, engagement with the admissions website (information requests, virtual or in-person tours, registering for info sessions, meeting with Emory reps at high school visits) can still register in the applicant file informally, and supplemental essays that demonstrate genuine knowledge of Emory’s two-campus structure carry weight. Low-cost engagement is worth doing regardless of the formal C7 designation.
Demographic composition of the entering class
The first two entering classes admitted under the post-SCOTUS regime (Fall 2024 and Fall 2025) show measurable shifts in racial and ethnic composition relative to the Fall 2023 baseline, consistent with what has been documented at other selective private universities.
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 21.3% | 23.4% | 25.6% | 24.4% | 29.4% |
| White, non-Hispanic | 32.8% | 31.9% | 27.6% | 27.8% | 26.2% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 12.4% | 12.3% | 13.0% | 12.0% | 10.9% |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 9.9% | 9.5% | 10.0% | 9.9% | 8.7% |
| Two or more races | 4.8% | 4.3% | 5.0% | 3.5% | 5.1% |
| Nonresident (intl.) | 17.1% | 16.7% | 17.4% | 16.6% | 13.7% |
| Unknown | 1.7% | 1.8% | 1.3% | 5.6% | 5.9% |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section B2. Percentages computed against the total degree-seeking, first-time, first-year cohort.
Hispanic enrollment declined from 13.0 percent of the entering class in Fall 2023 to 10.9 percent in Fall 2025, a drop of about 30 students. Black enrollment moved from 10.0 percent to 8.7 percent, a decline of roughly 16 students. The Asian share grew from 25.6 percent to 29.4 percent (about 60 additional students). The most striking number is the share declining to report racial/ethnic information, which rose from 1.3 percent to 5.9 percent between Fall 2023 and Fall 2025 (an additional 67 students). Some portion of the apparent decline in underrepresented enrollment may be obscured within the Unknown category.
The international share also dropped notably in Fall 2025, from roughly 17 percent (its five-year norm) to 13.7 percent, reflecting a range of factors including visa-processing changes and broader uncertainty around higher education for non-citizen students. Whether international enrollment recovers in Fall 2026 will be a closely watched data point in next year’s CDS.
Early decision is the dominant pathway
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| ED applications | 3,213 | 3,560 | 3,924 | 4,193 | 4,728 |
| ED admits | 844 | 940 | 975 | 974 | 1,049 |
| ED admit rate | 26.3% | 26.4% | 24.8% | 23.2% | 22.2% |
| ED admits as % of class | 56% | 66% | 68% | 68% | 73% |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section C21. ED applications combine ED I and ED II rounds. “ED admits as % of class” is calculated as ED admits divided by total enrolled FTFY and is approximate; some ED admits may decline to enroll, and the actual enrolled-from-ED share is slightly lower.
Early decision is the single most consequential variable in Emory admissions. ED applications grew 47 percent over the window (3,213 to 4,728), more than four times the overall pool’s growth. The ED admit rate fell from 26 to 22 percent but remains roughly two and a half times the regular-decision rate, which works out to about 9 percent if you back out ED admits from Fall 2025 totals.
Emory’s own Class of 2029 reporting tells the story more starkly. Of 5,658 admits across all rounds (Emory’s headcount methodology, which differs from the CDS), 995 came through ED I and 336 through ED II; the remaining 4,327 came from regular decision. ED yield at peer institutions runs above 95 percent, meaning roughly 70 percent of Emory’s entering class arrives through the binding rounds. For applicants for whom Emory is a clear first choice, the math strongly favors ED.
Tuition, total cost, and the Emory Advantage Plus announcement
Published tuition has risen at a steady but unremarkable pace across the window, from $57,120 for 2022-23 to $70,300 for 2026-27, a 23 percent increase. Required fees and food and housing have grown proportionally. The total published cost for an undergraduate living on campus in 2026-27 is approximately $93,900 before financial aid.
| Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 | |
| Tuition (academic yr) | $57,120 | $59,920 | $63,400 | $67,080 | $70,300 |
| Required fees | $828 | $854 | $880 | $976 | $1,148 |
| Food + housing | $17,016 | $18,972 | $20,220 | $21,244 | $22,406 |
| Published total (T+F+R&B) | $74,964 | $79,746 | $84,500 | $89,300 | $93,854 |
Source: Emory University Common Data Sets, Section G1. Tuition and fee figures are published for the academic year following the CDS reporting year (e.g., the 2025-26 CDS reports 2026-27 figures).
The published cost number, however, is increasingly disconnected from what most Emory families actually pay. In September 2025, Emory announced Emory Advantage Plus, an expansion of its existing need-based aid program. Starting in Fall 2026, students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less (with typical assets) will pay no tuition. The university continues to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need for domestic students and continues to remove loans from need-based aid packages. For Georgia residents, the new policy stacks on top of HOPE and Zell Miller; nearly 95 percent of Emory’s roughly 1,050 Georgia students already receive one of those awards. Early returns suggest the announcement has affected behavior. Emory’s enrollment office has reported a 14 percent application increase for the 2026-27 cycle, which would push applications above 42,000.
Among first-year students who received need-based aid in Fall 2025, the average package was $68,253 and the average need-based grant was $66,428, up from $49,450 in Fall 2021. The number of first-year students applying for need-based aid has dropped over the window (833 to 624, a 25 percent decline), suggesting the entering class has been getting wealthier on the margin. Emory Advantage Plus is a deliberate intervention against that drift.
What Emory students study
Bachelor’s degrees conferred at Emory cluster heavily in business, the life sciences (which feed Emory’s pre-health pipeline), and the social sciences. The university does not award engineering, architecture, or education degrees at the undergraduate level, which differentiates it from comprehensive research peers and concentrates demand within a narrower set of programs.
| Discipline area | Share of 2024-25 BA degrees |
| Business/marketing | 18.6% |
| Biological/life sciences | 14.8% |
| Social sciences | 13.2% |
| Mathematics and statistics | 8.6% |
| Health professions | 7.3% |
| Psychology | 6.2% |
| Physical sciences | 5.2% |
| Computer and information sciences | 4.1% |
| Visual and performing arts | 3.5% |
| Parks, recreation, and fitness | 3.5% |
| Philosophy and religious studies | 3.1% |
| English | 2.8% |
| All other fields combined | 9.1% |
Source: Emory University 2025-26 Common Data Set, Section J1. Degrees conferred between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, calculated by major (a double-major student is counted twice). The 8.6 percent share for mathematics and statistics is notably high and reflects the popularity of Emory’s Quantitative Sciences major housed in the Department of Mathematics.
The Goizueta Business School and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing do not admit first-year students directly; both draw from current Emory undergraduates who apply during their first two years. Applicants whose strongest interest is one of those pathways enter through Emory College or Oxford and transition later. The major-specific selectivity within the university comes after the published admit rate, not before.
Retention, graduation, and the institutional baseline
Emory’s persistence numbers have held steady across the window. First-year retention for the Fall 2024 entering cohort was 95 percent. The six-year graduation rate for the Fall 2019 cohort, reported in the most recent CDS, was 91 percent overall, with 89 percent for Pell-grant recipients, 93 percent for subsidized-Stafford-only borrowers, and 91 percent for students with no need-based aid. The narrow gap between Pell and non-Pell graduation rates reflects the impact of Emory’s commitment to meet full demonstrated need. The student-to-faculty ratio is 8.3 to 1, and 63 percent of undergraduate sections enroll fewer than 20 students.
Closing observations
Selectivity has tightened, but more modestly than the headline rate suggests. The drop from 13.1 percent to 10.3 percent reflects a deliberate reduction in admits, not a surge in applications. Until Fall 2025, application volume was essentially flat. Emory Advantage Plus is likely to accelerate application growth meaningfully starting with the 2026-27 cycle.
The two-campus structure matters more to admissions strategy than most applicants realize. Oxford admits comparable numbers of students to Emory College, applies similar academic standards, and produces graduates who finish on the Atlanta campus with the same Emory degree. Students whose primary goal is access to Emory should apply to both campuses through the single application; the marginal cost is essentially zero.
Early decision shapes the class. Roughly 70 percent of the entering class arrives through binding ED, and the ED admit rate (22 percent) is about two and a half times the regular decision rate. Applicants for whom Emory is a clear first choice and whose financial picture permits a binding commitment should treat ED as the principal pathway. Applicants who need to compare aid offers should plan for the regular round and accept that the odds shift accordingly.
The financial aid commitment is among the strongest in American higher education. One hundred percent of demonstrated need met, no loans in need-based packages, and free tuition for families up to $200,000 starting Fall 2026. For middle-income and upper-middle-income families historically caught between qualifying for substantial aid and being able to pay full price, Emory Advantage Plus changes the calculus. For Georgia residents, HOPE/Zell Miller plus Emory Advantage Plus is, in many cases, more generous than what comparable private universities elsewhere can offer.
