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Digest of Education Statistics
2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

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Table 305.30.Number and percentage of degree-granting postsecondary institutions with first-year undergraduates using various selection criteria for admission, by control and level of institution: Selected academic years, 2000-01 through 2022-23
Selection criteria All institutions Public institutions Private institutions
Total 4-year 2-year Total 4-year 2-year Total 4-year 2-year Nonprofit For-profit
Total 4-year 2-year Total 4-year 2-year
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Number of institutions with first-year undergraduates
2000-01 3,717 2,034 1,683 1,647 580 1,067 2,070 1,454 616 1,383 1,247 136 687 207 480
2010-11 4,209 2,487 1,722 1,614 637 977 2,595 1,850 745 1,321 1,238 83 1,274 612 662
2015-16 4,147 2,584 1,563 1,578 669 909 2,569 1,915 654 1,400 1,298 102 1,169 617 552
2022-23 3,548 2,287 1,261 1,566 750 816 1,982 1,537 445 1,345 1,271 74 637 266 371
Percent of institutions
Open admissions
2000-01 40.2 12.9 73.2 63.8 12.1 91.9 21.4 13.3 40.7 14.0 11.7 34.6 36.5 22.7 42.5
2010-11 47.2 22.5 82.9 65.6 17.6 96.9 35.8 24.2 64.6 15.4 13.0 51.8 56.9 46.9 66.2
2015-16 51.0 27.5 89.8 64.3 19.0 97.7 42.8 30.4 78.9 18.4 15.1 60.8 71.9 62.7 82.2
2022-23 48.9 25.1 92.1 65.1 28.8 98.4 36.1 23.2 80.4 16.8 14.5 56.8 76.8 65.0 85.2

Some admission requirements1
2000-01 58.4 85.8 25.1 35.4 87.4 7.1 76.6 85.2 56.3 84.5 86.8 63.2 60.7 75.4 54.4
2010-11 52.1 76.6 16.8 34.4 82.4 3.1 63.2 74.6 34.8 84.4 86.8 48.2 41.1 49.8 33.1
2015-16 48.3 71.9 9.3 35.4 81.0 1.9 56.3 68.8 19.7 80.5 84.1 35.3 27.3 36.6 16.8
2022-23 51.0 74.8 7.9 34.9 71.2 1.6 63.8 76.6 19.6 83.0 85.4 43.2 23.1 34.6 14.8

  Secondary grades
  2000-01 34.6 58.7 5.5 23.9 63.4 2.4 43.0 56.7 10.7 60.1 64.1 23.5 8.7 12.6 7.1
  2010-11 33.3 54.2 3.2 27.8 67.8 1.7 36.7 49.5 5.1 66.0 68.7 26.5 6.4 10.6 2.4
  2015-16 35.4 55.3 2.4 30.4 69.8 1.3 38.5 50.2 4.0 64.9 68.8 14.7 6.8 11.2 2.0
  2022-23 41.8 63.1 3.0 31.8 65.1 1.2 49.6 62.2 6.3 67.5 69.9 25.7 11.9 25.2 2.4

  Secondary class rank
  2000-01 13.7 24.3 1.0 10.9 30.3 0.3 16.0 21.9 2.3 23.2 25.1 5.9 1.6 2.4 1.3
  2010-11 8.4 13.9 0.4 9.2 22.9 0.3 7.8 10.8 0.5 15.0 15.8 3.6 0.4 0.7 0.2
  2015-16 6.0 9.5 0.3 7.8 18.2 0.1 4.9 6.4 0.6 8.8 9.3 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.4
  2022-23 3.4 5.0 0.4 4.4 9.1 0 2.6 3.1 0.9 3.6 3.5 4.1 0.5 0.8 0.3

  Secondary school record
  2000-01 45.8 70.3 16.2 29.4 72.9 5.8 58.7 69.2 34.1 73.2 75.5 52.2 29.5 30.9 29.0
  2010-11 45.9 70.1 10.8 33.0 78.8 3.1 53.9 67.1 20.9 77.1 79.4 42.2 29.8 42.3 18.3
  2015-16 44.0 65.9 7.8 34.0 77.9 1.8 50.1 61.7 16.2 71.7 75.4 24.5 24.3 32.9 14.7
  2022-23 44.8 66.1 6.3 33.1 67.6 1.5 54.1 65.4 15.1 70.7 72.9 33.8 19.0 29.7 11.3

  College preparatory program
  2000-01 15.5 27.3 1.2 16.2 44.0 1.1 14.9 20.7 1.3 22.1 24.1 4.4 0.4 0.5 0.4
  2010-11 14.7 24.4 0.6 18.3 45.4 0.7 12.4 17.1 0.5 24.0 25.4 2.4 0.3 0.3 0.3
  2015-16 14.7 23.3 0.5 19.3 44.4 0.8 12.0 16.0 0.2 21.9 23.6 1.0 0 0 0
  2022-23 18.1 27.7 0.8 18.1 37.2 0.6 18.1 23.0 1.1 26.5 27.7 6.8 0 0.8 0

  Recommendations
  2000-01 20.4 34.4 3.5 2.7 7.4 0.2 34.4 45.1 9.3 46.6 49.2 22.8 10.0 20.8 5.4
  2010-11 18.1 29.2 2.1 3.3 8.3 0.1 27.2 36.3 4.7 51.6 53.3 25.3 2.0 2.0 2.1
  2015-16 17.9 27.8 1.7 4.5 10.5 0.1 26.2 33.8 3.8 46.1 48.6 13.7 2.4 2.8 2.0
  2022-23 16.6 24.7 1.8 4.0 8.4 0 26.5 32.7 5.2 37.6 38.6 20.3 3.0 4.1 2.2

  Demonstration of 
     competencies2
  2000-01 8.0 12.1 3.0 2.2 5.0 0.7 12.7 15.0 7.1 12.1 12.7 7.4 13.7 29.0 7.1
  2010-11 5.8 8.0 2.5 1.8 4.6 0 8.2 9.2 5.8 8.9 8.8 9.6 7.6 10.1 5.3
  2015-16 4.1 5.7 1.3 1.6 3.9 0 5.6 6.4 3.2 7.6 7.8 5.9 3.1 3.4 2.7
  2022-23 3.9 5.5 1.2 1.3 2.8 0 6.0 6.8 3.4 6.9 6.8 9.5 4.1 6.8 2.2

  Test scores3
  2000-01 47.2 72.5 16.7 33.2 83.4 5.8 58.5 68.2 35.6 70.3 73.4 41.9 34.6 36.7 33.8
  2010-11 37.6 55.1 12.2 30.5 74.1 2.0 42.0 48.6 25.5 63.5 66.0 26.5 19.6 13.4 25.4
  2015-16 34.3 51.0 6.7 32.4 74.7 1.3 35.5 42.7 14.2 56.5 58.9 25.5 10.3 8.6 12.1
  2022-23 7.0 8.4 4.4 5.0 10.1 0.4 8.6 7.6 11.9 5.9 5.3 16.2 14.3 18.8 11.1

  English proficiency test4
  2000-01 43.4 71.2 9.9 30.2 77.4 4.6 54.0 68.7 19.2 66.2 70.1 30.9 29.3 60.4 15.8
  2010-11 38.7 61.9 5.1 29.9 71.6 2.7 44.2 58.6 8.3 66.3 69.1 25.3 21.2 37.4 6.2
  2015-16 35.7 55.7 2.8 30.1 69.2 1.3 39.2 50.9 4.7 59.6 63.5 10.8 14.6 24.5 3.6
  2022-23 38.5 59.0 1.3 30.7 63.3 0.7 44.7 56.9 2.5 63.3 66.3 10.8 5.3 11.7 0.8

No admission requirements 
   and not open admissions
2000-01 1.4 1.2 1.7 0.8 0.5 0.9 1.9 1.5 2.9 1.5 1.4 2.2 2.8 1.9 3.1
2010-11 0.6 0.9 0.3 0 0 0 1.0 1.2 0.7 0.2 0.2 0 2.0 3.3 0.8
2015-16 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.3 0 0.4 0.9 0.8 1.4 1.1 0.8 3.9 0.8 0.6 0.9
2022-23 0.1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.2 0.2 0 0.1 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0

Legacy status considered5
2022-23 16.0 24.2 1.1 5.3 10.9 0.1 24.4 30.6 2.9 35.0 36.2 14.9 2.0 4.1 0.5
1Many institutions have more than one admission requirement.
2Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g., portfolios, certificates of mastery, assessment instruments).
3Includes SAT, ACT, or other admission tests.
4Such as TOEFL.
5Includes institutions that reported legacy status as not required for admission but considered if submitted. These institutions may or may not have admission requirements. Legacy status refers to a student's familial connection to an institution, including a sibling who currently attends or parents or relatives who are alumni.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data are for degree-granting institutions and U.S. service academies. Degree-granting institutions grant associate's or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Excludes institutions not enrolling any first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduates. Admissions data are reported for students entering in fall of the academic year. The three admission categories reported in this table sum to 100 percent: (1) Open admissions, (2) Some admission requirements, and (3) No admission requirements, only recommendations for admissions. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Institutional Characteristics component, Fall 2000 and Fall 2010 (final data); and Admissions component, Winter 2015-16 (final data) and Winter 2022-23 (provisional data). (This table was prepared January 2024.)

2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

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