Mar 28, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Some Ivy League schools increase rate of admissions

Rashaan Ayesh

Harvard University campus. Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Some Ivy League schools saw freshman admission rates slightly tick up this year, reversing a multi-year trend of frantic competition and scrutiny over the selective spots, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Why now: The novel coronavirus has presented colleges with a variety of challenges, with the pandemic confusing enrollment projections for the coming academic year. Some schools took students off waitlists or changed their denials and admitted them to ensure they enroll full classes, per the WSJ.

By the numbers:

Harvard admitted 4.9% of the 40,248 who applied, up from last year's record-low 4.6% acceptance rate.
Dartmouth admitted 8.8% of applicants, jumping from last year's record-low 7.9%.
Columbia University admitted 6.1% of its applicants, as opposed to the 5.3% the year prior.
Yale University admitted 6.5% of all applicants, increasing 0.3%.
University of Pennsylvania admitted 8.1%, rising from 7.7%.

Yes, but: Brown and Princeton Universities were more selective this year.

Brown admitted 6.9% of applicants for the coming year, down from 7.1%
Princeton accepted 5.6% of those who applied, down from 5.8%.

Go deeper: College students are still going out despite coronavirus warnings

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Some Ivy League schools increase rate of admissions

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