Yale attracted the largest number of applicants ever to its class of 2028, resulting in a record-low attendance rate. The surge in applications since 2020 is in part attributed to the test-optional policy that Yale adopted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, though earlier this year the college changed to a flexible-but-mandatory test policy that will come into effect in the next admissions cycle. 

Admissions Stats

Yale admitted 2,146 out of 57,465 applicants for the class of 2028, amounting to a 3.73% acceptance rate. That compares to Yale accepting 2,275 out of 52,250 applicants for the class of 2027, a 4.35% acceptance rate, and 2,234 out of 50,015 applicants for the class of 2026, a 4.46% acceptance rate, according to data released by the college. Yale’s total number of applicants has reached record highs for each of the past several years. 

The 2,146 admitted students for Yale’s class of 2028 includes 709 applicants who were notified in December through the Early Action program. 

Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, said in a YaleNews report that the first-year applicant pool has grown by 66% since 2020, which he attributed to Yale shifting to a test-optional policy following the onset of the pandemic. 


Testing Policy

For nearly four years Yale’s undergraduate admissions process was test-optional. In February the university announced a change in policy, and will again require students to include scores with their applications, for the class of 2029. However, applicants will be allowed to report Advanced Placement of International Baccalaureate exam scores in lieu of the ACT or SAT, the college said. 

In announcing the change, Yale said that its “research from before and after the pandemic has consistently demonstrated that, among all application components, test scores are the single greatest predictor of a student’s future Yale grades.”

Class Demographics

Students admitted to the incoming freshman class come from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., two U.S. territories, and 62 countries. 

Applications from students who would be the first generation in their families to attend college increased by 13% more than the overall pool, while students from neighborhoods with below-median household incomes increased by 19% more, according to the Yale Daily News. 

While in the three preceding admissions cycles - for the classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027 - applications from international students grew at three times the rate of domestic students, applications from both domestic and international students grew at the same rate for the class of 2028, the Daily News said. 


Tuition and Financial Aid

Yale’s term bill will reach $90,975 for the 2024-2025 academic year, the first time in the college’s history that it will surpass $90,000, according to the Daily News. 

The collegedoes not expectparents earning less than $75,000 annually, with typical assets, to make any contribution toward the cost of their child’s education, Yale’s director of undergraduate financial aid Kari DiFonzo told YaleNews.

How The Ivy Institute Can Help:

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