Penn announces 5.8% acceptance rate for Class of 2030

Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule announced a 5.8% admissions rate for the Class of 2030 — an increase from last year — at Friday’s University Board of Trustees meeting.

From a pool of 61,264 applicants, 3,575 students were admitted. The Class of 2030 consists of students from 49 states and 77 countries, with legacy students representing 13.1% of the entire group.

The increase in Penn’s acceptance rate — up almost an entire percentage point from last year’s 4.9% — comes after the University saw a three-year low in applications. The Class of 2030 is the first in recent history to be admitted to Penn under test-mandatory policies. In February 2025, Penn reinstated the standardized testing requirement after waiving it during the 2020-21 application cycle due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Penn’s decision aligns with other Ivy League universities — including Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Cornell University, and Brown University — who have similarly returned to requiring test scores.

Princeton University and Columbia University will resume their standardized testing requirements beginning in the 2027-28 admissions cycle.

The latest application cycle is also the third during which Penn has been unable to consider race in its admissions decisions. After a 2023 ruling by the United States Supreme Court declared race-conscious admissions unconstitutional, 23% of the Class of 2028 was made up of students from historically underrepresented races and ethnicities in higher education — marking a two percentage point drop from the Class of 2027. In the Class of 2029, 24% are from historically underrepresented backgrounds.

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, families earning up to $200,000 with typical assets received full tuition scholarships through the Quaker Commitment initiative. The Board of Trustees expanded these financial aid offerings by 3.8% in March in line with an increased total cost of attendance.

At the time, the Trustees also voted to approve a 3.9% increase in undergraduate tuition costs for the coming academic year.

In May, Penn received a $20 million gift to enhance financial aid and increase support for middle-income students. The donation — made by 1996 Wharton graduate Greg Mondre and his wife, Alexandra — will establish the Mondre Family Initiative, which is expected to serve over 1,000 middle-income families each year.

During the meeting, University Chaplain Charles Howard highlighted the “grace” of “the incoming students that Dean Soule and her team in admissions have selected to join our community this fall.”

“May these students find safe haven under the strong leaves of the tree that is the University of Pennsylvania,” he said.

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