When Admission Rates are Deceiving
- Lynn Hofstad
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 25
I love a good statistic. My friends and family joke that if there is an opportunity to win an argument using a statistic, I can recall the most obscure facts from memory. So I find it disconcerting when a statistic that seems clear, actually isn't. What I'm talking about here are admissions rates for public universities. Turns out those straightforward numbers aren't so straightforward when there can be wildly different admit rates depending on specific demographics (e.g. the residency of an applicant or the major to which they are applying).
Go to any college website or guidebook and one of the first statistics that you will encounter is the admission rate for a particular school. In a past blog, I referenced the fact that admission rates have plummeted in recent years (for various reasons, including the giant uptick in applications per student). Take Georgia Tech for example. According to Rick Clark, undergraduate admissions director at Georgia Tech, the admission rate in 2003 was 62% (The Truth about College Admission, 129). This year's Fiske Guide to Colleges 2026 lists the current admission rate as 16%. That's a drop of 46% in a little over 20 years. But even those numbers don't tell the whole story, and can be deceiving for certain demographics.
Since public universities are funded by state funds, some states have laws about how many non-resident students public universities are allowed to enroll. For example, Washington, Texas, North Carolina, and California laws impact how many residents vs. non-residents are admitted.
Washington State, where I live, is mandated by law to prioritize students who are residents of WA.
Texas law requires that the student body at the flagship university, UT Austin, must not exceed 10% non-residents.
North Carolina requires that non-residents make up only 18% of the student population at UNC universities.
Likewise colleges in the University of California system prioritize California residents for admission, which results in CA residents making up more than 2/3 of the student body on UC campuses.
These are four examples, but as the application numbers at flagship universities increase, other states (like Georgia and Florida) are making similar moves.
This means that when you see an admission rate, it is the percentage of those admitted from the total applicants. HOWEVER, the actual admission rate could be very different if you are a resident or non-resident. Here are examples from the flagship universities in the states mentioned.
Admission Rate | Resident Admission Rate | Non-Resident Admission Rate | |
39% | 47% | 39% | |
11.60% | ~15% | ~8% | |
26.60% | ~34% | ~10% | |
16% | ~43% | ~8% |
The difference in acceptance rates becomes even more stark when it comes to competitive majors. For example, the University of Washington is well known for its competitive computer science major, but the admissions rate for residents is more favorable (though still very competitive) than for non-residents.
All this is to say that the admissions rates for state-funded institutions might not be as they initially appear. This can be good news or not-so-good news depending on where you live and where you want to apply.
TL;DR: Make sure to research resident vs. non-resident admissions rates. Research the different acceptance rates based on intended major. Know which rates apply to your specific situation when it comes to a public university. What might seem like a reach or likely school might not be...depending on where you live.
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