National Liberal Arts Colleges Where Most Accepted Students Enroll

Though prospective college students are increasingly applying to more schools, each applicant can ultimately enroll in just one. For fall 2011, some of the most popular choices among students were U.S. service academies.

Colleges refer to the percentage of their accepted first year students who choose to enroll as "yield" and report the statistic to U.S. News in annual surveys. Yield is an important indicator of what students think about their college choice. While a high yield shows students greatly value being admitted to a particular institution, a low yield may mean that the school was considered a "safety" and may not have been those students' first choice.

In a 2012 U.S. News survey, 233 ranked National Liberal Arts Colleges, generally small schools that emphasize undergraduate education, reported yield rates for fall 2011.

The United States Naval Academy reported the highest yield rate that year, enrolling 86.2 percent of admitted undergraduates. Following closely behind, the United States Military Academy enrolled 83.6 percent of admitted applicants for fall 2011, while 82.1 percent of students accepted to the United States Air Force Academy chose to attend.

On average, the ranked National Liberal Arts Colleges that reported yield rates to U.S. News enrolled close to 30 percent of accepted undergraduates for fall 2011. That's not as high as the average among National Universities: about 36 percent, according to school reports.

[See the yield rates at National Universities.]

High yield rates do not necessarily correspond with the overall Best Colleges rankings. Though Harvard University is the No. 1 ranked National University and has the second-highest yield rate amongst similar schools for fall 2011, Williams College, ranked No. 1 overall in the U.S. News Best National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings, reported a yield rate of 44.9 percent for fall 2011--the 25th highest on the list below.

The yield rates could be affected by any early decision or early action options offered by schools. Since students accepted through those programs are generally expected to enroll, overall yield rates may increase as a result.

Below are the fall 2011 yield rates for every National Liberal Arts College that reported the statistic to U.S. News.

School name

Students accepted

First year enrollment

Yield

United States Naval Academy

1426

1229

86.2%

United States Military Academy

1473

1231

83.6%

United States Air Force Academy

1372

1127

82.1%

Providence Christian College

30

23

76.7%

Berea College

586

418

71.3%

Thomas Aquinas College

135

92

68.1%

Clearwater Christian College

245

151

61.6%

Soka University of America

179

110

61.5%

Principia College

168

103

61.3%

University of Wisconsin--Parkside

1337

766

57.3%

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma

373

211

56.6%

West Virginia State University

569

309

54.3%

Grove City College

1205

617

51.2%

Savannah State University

2458

1243

50.6%

Wisconsin Lutheran College

522

263

50.4%

Virginia Military Institute

969

480

49.5%

Claremont McKenna College

623

305

49.0%

Barnard College

1282

612

47.7%

Simpson University

308

146

47.4%

Salem College

394

184

46.7%

Colorado Mesa University

4671

2179

46.6%

Bowdoin College

1056

484

45.8%

St. John's College

338

152

45.0%

Wheaton College

1327

596

44.9%

Williams College

1215

545

44.9%

Goshen College

416

182

43.8%

Life University

544

234

43.0%

University of Maine--Machias

318

136

42.8%

Bethany Lutheran College

381

162

42.5%

Hillsdale College

925

393

42.5%

Wellesley College

1362

574

42.1%

University of Virginia--Wise

849

356

41.9%

Bucknell University

2188

916

41.9%

Washington and Lee University

1182

494

41.8%

Amherst College

1127

461

40.9%

Eastern Mennonite University

578

234

40.5%

Davidson College

1208

488

40.4%

Wesleyan College

280

113

40.4%

St. John's University

1225

494

40.3%

Calvin College

2395

961

40.1%

Fort Lewis College

1974

777

39.4%

San Diego Christian College

234

92

39.3%

Swarthmore College

987

386

39.1%

Erskine College

425

166

39.1%

Pomona College

1011

394

39.0%

Colorado College

1267

490

38.7%

Middlebury College

1563

602

38.5%

Haverford College

870

335

38.5%

Holy Cross College

322

122

37.9%

Judson College

200

75

37.5%

Vassar College

1798

671

37.3%

Smith College

1877

694

37.0%

Ouachita Baptist University

1245

459

36.9%

Morehouse College

1370

500

36.5%

College of St. Benedict

1444

525

36.4%

Presbyterian College

1000

359

35.9%

Bates College

1405

502

35.7%

Sweet Briar College

547

194

35.5%

Concordia College--Moorhead

2047

722

35.3%

St. Lawrence University

1855

647

34.9%

Wesleyan University

2340

808

34.5%

Centenary College of Louisiana

690

238

34.5%

Mount Holyoke College

1759

605

34.4%

Oberlin College

2192

751

34.3%

Houghton College

777

266

34.2%

Grinnell College

1330

448

33.7%

Carleton College

1546

519

33.6%

Bryn Mawr College

1080

361

33.4%

Hamilton College

1441

481

33.4%

St. Olaf College

2214

739

33.4%

New College of Florida

715

237

33.1%

Colgate University

2305

764

33.1%

Marlboro College

185

61

33.0%

Kenyon College

1429

468

32.8%

St. Vincent College

1249

409

32.7%

Scripps College

785

257

32.7%

College of the Atlantic

233

76

32.6%

Gettysburg College

2257

732

32.4%

St. Mary's College

1220

393

32.2%

Lycoming College

1299

417

32.1%

Shorter University

1263

405

32.1%

Shimer College

50

16

32.0%

Wabash College

916

293

32.0%

University of Minnesota--Morris

1462

465

31.8%

College of Idaho

777

246

31.7%

Western State Colorado University

1383

436

31.5%

Shawnee State University

3766

1187

31.5%

Northland College

469

146

31.1%

St. Norbert College

1917

594

31.0%

College of the Holy Cross

2435

751

30.8%

Pacific Union College

1182

363

30.7%

Reed College

1219

374

30.7%

Colby College

1527

467

30.6%

Franklin and Marshall College

1965

597

30.4%

Virginia Intermont College

359

109

30.4%

St. Mary's College of Maryland

1472

446

30.3%

Pitzer College

903

272

30.1%

Nebraska Wesleyan University

1196

360

30.1%

Hendrix College

1261

375

29.7%

American Jewish University

37

11

29.7%

Simpson College

1145

338

29.5%

Harvey Mudd College

660

194

29.4%

Wartburg College

1784

510

28.6%

Emory and Henry College

971

277

28.5%

Castleton State College

1623

462

28.5%

Lane College

2125

599

28.2%

Connecticut College

1804

508

28.2%

Alma College

1379

387

28.1%

Birmingham-Southern College

1155

324

28.1%

Trinity College

2118

591

27.9%

Hope College

2940

815

27.7%

Lafayette College

2304

638

27.7%

Muhlenberg College

2109

584

27.7%

Berry College

2014

557

27.7%

Xavier University of Louisiana

2860

786

27.5%

Illinois College

1054

288

27.3%

Skidmore College

2431

663

27.3%

Gordon College

1713

465

27.1%

Ripon College

837

227

27.1%

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

1136

308

27.1%

Hollins University

672

182

27.1%

University of North Carolina--Asheville

2018

540

26.8%

Bay Path College

583

155

26.6%

Purchase College--SUNY

3011

797

26.5%

Eastern Nazarene College

620

164

26.5%

Denison University

2304

606

26.3%

Lyon College

605

158

26.1%

Union College

2197

572

26.0%

Westminster College

978

254

26.0%

Brevard College

734

190

25.9%

Claflin University

1578

408

25.9%

Albion College

1499

386

25.8%

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

2656

681

25.6%

Dickinson College

2543

652

25.6%

Bennington College

829

212

25.6%

Doane College

1144

291

25.4%

Randolph College

696

177

25.4%

Linfield College

1811

459

25.3%

University of Richmond

3085

781

25.3%

Illinois Wesleyan University

2017

510

25.3%

Augustana College

2838

708

24.9%

Bard College

1960

486

24.8%

Warren Wilson College

920

228

24.8%

Moravian College

1546

375

24.3%

Kalamazoo College

1531

371

24.2%

Monmouth College

1401

339

24.2%

Sewanee--University of the South

1793

433

24.1%

Whitman College

1654

399

24.1%

Spelman College

2204

531

24.1%

Johnson C. Smith University

1552

373

24.0%

Wofford College

1861

446

24.0%

William Peace University

568

136

23.9%

Luther College

2631

627

23.8%

Juniata College

1528

363

23.8%

Lake Forest College

1711

406

23.7%

Gustavus Adolphus College

3088

727

23.5%

Hampden-Sydney College

1361

320

23.5%

Coe College

1547

361

23.3%

Westmont College

1424

332

23.3%

Cornell College

1457

339

23.3%

Lawrence University

1405

326

23.2%

Occidental College

2321

538

23.2%

Bethany College

935

214

22.9%

SUNY College--Old Westbury

1755

400

22.8%

Transylvania University

1075

245

22.8%

Susquehanna University

2644

599

22.7%

Macalester College

2137

478

22.4%

Bryn Athyn College of the New Church

370

82

22.2%

Maryville College

1325

293

22.1%

Pine Manor College

318

70

22.0%

Centre College

1700

374

22.0%

Agnes Scott College

1048

227

21.7%

Hiram College

1432

308

21.5%

Rhodes College

2658

571

21.5%

Central College

1926

412

21.4%

Allen University

841

179

21.3%

Beloit College

1487

315

21.2%

Bloomfield College

1854

392

21.1%

Earlham College

1109

234

21.1%

Wheaton College

2075

437

21.1%

Millsaps College

1077

224

20.8%

Austin College

1736

359

20.7%

McDaniel College

2074

424

20.4%

Hampshire College

1797

366

20.4%

Allegheny College

2747

559

20.3%

Southwestern University

1694

344

20.3%

Knox College

1706

346

20.3%

Stillman College

1526

305

20.0%

Whittier College

2137

427

20.0%

DePauw University

2950

584

19.8%

Louisiana State University--Alexandria

1618

320

19.8%

Eckerd College

2542

502

19.7%

Guilford College

1963

382

19.5%

Furman University

4058

785

19.3%

College of Wooster

2968

571

19.2%

Georgetown College

1895

353

18.6%

St. Anselm College

2953

550

18.6%

University of Puget Sound

3729

686

18.4%

Roanoke College

2910

533

18.3%

Kentucky State University

3126

558

17.9%

Tougaloo College

1148

204

17.8%

Randolph-Macon College

2369

410

17.3%

Albright College

3011

517

17.2%

Bennett College

952

158

16.6%

Siena College

4714

782

16.6%

Ohio Wesleyan University

2950

483

16.4%

Virginia Wesleyan College

2730

439

16.1%

Green Mountain College

872

140

16.1%

Ursinus College

2703

428

15.8%

Hanover College

2058

321

15.6%

St. Michael's College

3493

543

15.5%

Westminster College

2326

360

15.5%

Lewis & Clark College

3928

607

15.5%

Marymount Manhattan College

2892

439

15.2%

William Jewell College

1803

270

15.0%

Washington College

2715

399

14.7%

Rust College

1817

264

14.5%

Wittenberg University

3735

535

14.3%

Bridgewater College

3327

471

14.2%

Carthage College

4806

679

14.1%

Washington and Jefferson College

2855

387

13.6%

Goucher College

2764

367

13.3%

Willamette University

4685

617

13.2%

Dillard University

2728

354

13.0%

Hartwick College

3774

489

13.0%

Oglethorpe University

2027

262

12.9%

Drew University

3527

454

12.9%

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

708

91

12.9%

Stonehill College

4693

568

12.1%

Wells College

1248

137

11.0%

College of St. Thomas More

10

1

10.0%

King's College

2255

162

7.2%

Fisk University

1864

125

6.7%

The yield data above are correct as of Jan. 28, 2013. For additional admissions data, complete rankings, and much more, access the U.S. News College Compass.