State of College Admission

Welcome to the new and improved State of College Admission. For the last two decades, this report has been a key source of college admission trend data. For 2023, the report has been redesigned as an online interactive tool that will be updated throughout the year.

NACAC will continue to provide information on the topics you’ve come to expect—applications and acceptance rates, factors in admission decisions, recruitment strategies, early decision and early action, and school counseling—as well as emerging topics relevant to the field of college admission and counseling.

All data releases will include summary data to help inform the public, policymakers, educational leaders, journalists, and professionals about important issues in the college admission and counseling process. NACAC members also will have access to interactive dashboards, as well as downloadable fact sheets and other resources to support their work.

This dynamic member-only resource further enriches the NACAC membership experience with data-driven insights to empower college admission counseling professionals. NACAC is proud to enhance the work of our members through the suite of State of College Admission dashboards, presentation materials, and fact sheets.

• June: School Counseling. Counselor caseloads and job responsibilities by school type
• July: Factors in the Admission Decision. Trends in what colleges consider to the be most important factors in making admission decisions.
• August: Institutional Yield Rates. Trends in the average institutional yield rate—the percentage of admitted students that accept the offer of admission.
• October: Student Recruitment Strategies. Top recruitment strategies used by colleges to attract prospective students, before, during, and after COVID-19.
• November: Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), and Wait Lists. The percentage of colleges that use ED, EA, and wait lists, and how acceptance rates vary across these admission groups.