Liberal Arts Colleges Where Students Are Eager to Enroll
While college officials can control which applicants they admit to their campuses, they can't know for sure who will ultimately choose to enroll. Even well-known and highly ranked schools, such as Williams College in Massachusetts, may find that less than half of accepted students start taking classes.
The percentage of applicants accepted by a school who end up enrolling at that institution in a given year is known as yield. More in-demand schools have higher yields, while those with lower yields may not have been students' first-choice institutions.
See the [10 universities where the fewest applicants get in.]
Of the 221 National Liberal Arts Colleges that provided fall 2014 yield data to U.S. News, three U.S. service academies reported the highest numbers. The United States Naval Academy enrolled 85.2 percent of accepted students in fall 2014, followed by the United States Military Academy, which had a yield of 84.6 percent, and the United States Air Force Academy, where 80.5 percent of accepted students chose to attend.
National Liberal Arts Colleges are schools that place an emphasis on undergraduate education and award at least 50 percent of their degrees in the liberal arts. The average yield among all of the schools in this category that provided data was 28 percent, lower than the 33.6 percent average yield for research-oriented National Universities for the same year.
See the [National Universities where students are eager to enroll.]
At Williams, the top-ranked National Liberal Arts College in the 2016 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, 44.8 percent of the 1,220 students accepted for fall 2014 studies chose to enroll.
Below are the fall 2014 yield rates for every National Liberal Arts College that reported data to U.S. News. The rate can be affected by a school's early decision or early action options, as some of those programs bind students to attend if accepted. The data reflect first-time, first-year, degree-seeking students only.
School (state) | Students accepted | Students who enrolled in fall 2014 | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|
1,398 | 1,191 | 85.2% | |
1,418 | 1,200 | 84.6% | |
1,498 | 1,206 | 80.5% | |
576 | 451 | 78.3% | |
555 | 416 | 75% | |
167 | 121 | 72.5% | |
153 | 89 | 58.2% | |
176 | 100 | 56.8% | |
189 | 98 | 51.9% | |
1,202 | 621 | 51.7% | |
904 | 464 | 51.3% | |
651 | 327 | 50.2% | |
1,306 | 637 | 48.8% | |
1,034 | 503 | 48.6% | |
942 | 450 | 47.8% | |
563 | 260 | 46.2% | |
1,349 | 617 | 45.7% | |
299 | 136 | 45.5% | |
1,220 | 546 | 44.8% | |
2,706 | 1,204 | 44.5% | |
383 | 170 | 44.4% | |
1,390 | 607 | 43.7% | |
943 | 407 | 43.2% | |
1,418 | 593 | 41.8% | |
1,205 | 502 | 41.7% | |
1,136 | 471 | 41.5% | |
1,407 | 580 | 41.2% | |
185 | 76 | 41.1% | |
1,361 | 549 | 40.3% | |
766 | 309 | 40.3% | |
1,173 | 469 | 40% | |
355 | 141 | 39.7% | |
863 | 338 | 39.2% | |
2,416 | 939 | 38.9% | |
1,157 | 450 | 38.9% | |
1,168 | 454 | 38.9% | |
1,068 | 414 | 38.8% | |
1,282 | 491 | 38.3% | |
4,842 | 1,853 | 38.3% | |
1,410 | 540 | 38.3% | |
908 | 341 | 37.6% | |
586 | 220 | 37.5% | |
1,453 | 542 | 37.3% | |
524 | 195 | 37.2% | |
317 | 118 | 37.2% | |
343 | 127 | 37% | |
972 | 359 | 36.9% | |
1,434 | 521 | 36.3% | |
556 | 201 | 36.2% | |
1,195 | 432 | 36.2% | |
1,832 | 663 | 36.2% | |
2,691 | 951 | 35.3% | |
2,215 | 779 | 35.2% | |
1,336 | 469 | 35.1% | |
2,733 | 955 | 34.9% | |
1,223 | 420 | 34.3% | |
553 | 188 | 34% | |
809 | 275 | 34% | |
2,298 | 774 | 33.7% | |
2,365 | 797 | 33.7% | |
2,287 | 767 | 33.5% | |
973 | 326 | 33.5% | |
2,245 | 750 | 33.4% | |
1,444 | 480 | 33.2% | |
1,360 | 449 | 33% | |
758 | 250 | 33% | |
1,885 | 616 | 32.7% | |
2,233 | 720 | 32.2% | |
1,095 | 351 | 32.1% | |
743 | 238 | 32% | |
1,751 | 547 | 31.2% | |
877 | 270 | 30.8% | |
1,121 | 345 | 30.8% | |
1,287 | 394 | 30.6% | |
2,500 | 765 | 30.6% | |
1,756 | 536 | 30.5% | |
874 | 265 | 30.3% | |
2,062 | 602 | 29.2% | |
1,324 | 385 | 29.1% | |
881 | 256 | 29.1% | |
369 | 106 | 28.7% | |
1,895 | 540 | 28.5% | |
865 | 246 | 28.4% | |
1,271 | 356 | 28% | |
505 | 141 | 27.9% | |
2,319 | 648 | 27.9% | |
2,130 | 592 | 27.8% | |
2,280 | 633 | 27.8% | |
844 | 234 | 27.7% | |
173 | 47 | 27.2% | |
1,055 | 284 | 26.9% | |
1,663 | 448 | 26.9% | |
1,406 | 378 | 26.9% | |
2,839 | 758 | 26.7% | |
1,387 | 368 | 26.5% | |
1,498 | 395 | 26.4% | |
740 | 192 | 25.9% | |
305 | 79 | 25.9% | |
649 | 168 | 25.9% | |
3,155 | 816 | 25.9% | |
1,637 | 423 | 25.8% | |
621 | 159 | 25.6% | |
1,697 | 435 | 25.6% | |
1,478 | 379 | 25.6% | |
2,223 | 570 | 25.6% | |
1,821 | 464 | 25.5% | |
2,528 | 643 | 25.4% | |
940 | 236 | 25.1% | |
2,029 | 507 | 25% | |
2,028 | 501 | 24.7% | |
2,312 | 568 | 24.6% | |
2,480 | 611 | 24.6% | |
1,978 | 487 | 24.6% | |
2,481 | 609 | 24.5% | |
3,402 | 834 | 24.5% | |
993 | 240 | 24.2% | |
1,926 | 466 | 24.2% | |
1,926 | 464 | 24.1% | |
1,672 | 402 | 24% | |
1,783 | 427 | 23.9% | |
944 | 225 | 23.8% | |
1,479 | 352 | 23.8% | |
2,489 | 589 | 23.7% | |
1,493 | 352 | 23.6% | |
2,335 | 552 | 23.6% | |
910 | 212 | 23.3% | |
1,952 | 452 | 23.2% | |
1,442 | 334 | 23.2% | |
647 | 150 | 23.2% | |
3,149 | 727 | 23.1% | |
2,349 | 541 | 23% | |
563 | 129 | 22.9% | |
1,379 | 314 | 22.8% | |
2,448 | 559 | 22.8% | |
1,823 | 413 | 22.7% | |
53 | 12 | 22.6% | |
1,692 | 382 | 22.6% | |
2,742 | 618 | 22.5% | |
3,245 | 726 | 22.4% | |
3,237 | 724 | 22.4% | |
2,222 | 497 | 22.4% | |
1,669 | 374 | 22.4% | |
616 | 136 | 22.1% | |
2,615 | 579 | 22.1% | |
2,071 | 455 | 22% | |
1,193 | 262 | 22% | |
1,845 | 406 | 22% | |
1,199 | 262 | 21.9% | |
1,905 | 416 | 21.8% | |
1,648 | 357 | 21.7% | |
1,652 | 357 | 21.6% | |
1,785 | 386 | 21.6% | |
1,291 | 276 | 21.4% | |
2,552 | 546 | 21.4% | |
2,176 | 463 | 21.3% | |
1,683 | 356 | 21.2% | |
2,024 | 429 | 21.2% | |
1,007 | 211 | 21% | |
1,291 | 268 | 20.8% | |
1,326 | 274 | 20.7% | |
1,868 | 382 | 20.4% | |
1,969 | 396 | 20.1% | |
1,882 | 376 | 20% | |
665 | 132 | 19.8% | |
3,175 | 615 | 19.4% | |
2,715 | 523 | 19.3% | |
2,004 | 385 | 19.2% | |
1,581 | 299 | 18.9% | |
1,866 | 351 | 18.8% | |
1,410 | 263 | 18.7% | |
1,720 | 322 | 18.7% | |
2,258 | 414 | 18.3% | |
3,105 | 560 | 18% | |
1,235 | 218 | 17.7% | |
1,096 | 191 | 17.4% | |
2,768 | 476 | 17.2% | |
3,002 | 514 | 17.1% | |
2,292 | 389 | 17% | |
1,488 | 253 | 17% | |
3,028 | 512 | 16.9% | |
3,248 | 547 | 16.8% | |
3,344 | 562 | 16.8% | |
1,606 | 268 | 16.7% | |
2,198 | 366 | 16.7% | |
3,459 | 574 | 16.6% | |
2,950 | 488 | 16.5% | |
1,008 | 166 | 16.5% | |
3,527 | 575 | 16.3% | |
1,064 | 172 | 16.2% | |
2,528 | 403 | 15.9% | |
1,195 | 189 | 15.8% | |
1,862 | 293 | 15.7% | |
2,958 | 458 | 15.5% | |
2,278 | 352 | 15.5% | |
3,226 | 495 | 15.3% | |
4,427 | 663 | 15% | |
2,818 | 423 | 15% | |
1,854 | 273 | 14.7% | |
1,950 | 285 | 14.6% | |
1,636 | 236 | 14.4% | |
3,807 | 540 | 14.2% | |
5,013 | 709 | 14.1% | |
1,295 | 182 | 14.1% | |
5,132 | 704 | 13.7% | |
4,159 | 563 | 13.5% | |
2,955 | 399 | 13.5% | |
4,622 | 610 | 13.2% | |
2,960 | 388 | 13.1% | |
2,493 | 325 | 13% | |
3,001 | 388 | 12.9% | |
2,172 | 277 | 12.8% | |
2,395 | 302 | 12.6% | |
2,528 | 312 | 12.3% | |
2,970 | 357 | 12% | |
4,658 | 553 | 11.9% | |
1,432 | 166 | 11.6% | |
4,432 | 516 | 11.6% | |
2,121 | 227 | 10.7% | |
4,510 | 419 | 9.3% | |
3,119 | 290 | 9.3% | |
3,230 | 144 | 4.5% |
The yield data above are correct as of Jan. 25, 2016. For additional admissions data, complete rankings and much more, access the U.S. News College Compass.
