The Portland State acceptance rate is 90.9%. In its most recently retrievable admissions cycle, Fall 2023, Portland State University received 8,877 first-year applications, admitted 8,070 and enrolled 1,580.
You can stop reading that number now, because Portland State has done something almost no other university does: it has published the actual rule. Not the rate, not a profile of the admitted class, not a vague list of things it values. The rule, in writing, with a threshold and a subject list.
So the rest of this page is that rule, what it does and does not include, and whether you clear it.
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The rule, in Portland State's own words
Two sentences from PSU's own first-year admissions page carry almost the entire decision.
On grades: "Applicants whose GPA is below 3.0 will be considered for admission through holistic review."
On tests: "Submission of test scores is optional, and not required to receive an admission decision."
Read the first one carefully, because of what it implies about applicants at or above 3.0. PSU does not state a minimum GPA. It states what happens if you are below 3.0, which is that you get read individually rather than rejected. The structure of the sentence tells you that at 3.0 and above, with the coursework done, you are through.
The coursework requirement, which is the part people fail
This is the requirement that actually turns applicants away, and it is specific. You must graduate from high school and complete 15 units of college preparatory coursework with grades of C- or better:
| Subject | Units required |
| English and language arts | 4 |
| Science | 3, with one year of lab science recommended |
| Social studies | 3 |
| Mathematics | at least 3, a fourth encouraged |
| Second language | 2 units of the same language, Oregon high school graduates only |
Three things worth flagging.
The C- floor applies per course, not on average. A D in one required unit is a gap in the requirement regardless of what your overall GPA looks like. This is the most common reason a 3.2 student finds themselves in holistic review.
The second-language requirement is for Oregon graduates only. PSU states there is no language requirement for applicants who graduated outside Oregon. If you went to high school in another state, that row does not apply to you, which is an unusual asymmetry and genuinely useful if you were two credits short.
Maths is the one to overshoot. Three years satisfies the rule, a fourth is encouraged, and PSU strongly encourages pre-calculus and if possible calculus for anyone heading into a STEM track. That is advice about placement and progression once you arrive, not about admission, and it is worth taking for exactly that reason.
The application fee is $60, with waivers available and determined from the information already in your application, so there is no separate waiver process to chase.
What Portland State does not consider
Here is the finding that makes this page different from everything else written about the Portland State acceptance rate, and it comes from PSU's own federal filing.
Asked to rate the importance of each admission factor, PSU recorded:
| Factor | PSU's stated weight |
| Academic GPA | Very important |
| Recommendation | Considered |
| Every other listed factor | Not considered |
Every other listed factor. That includes the application essay. Extracurricular activities. The interview. Talent or ability. Character and personal qualities. First-generation status. Alumni relation. Geographic residence. Demonstrated interest in attending. And standardised test scores, which PSU's filing confirms are not used in admission decisions at all.
Sit with the practical implication, because it is worth hours of your time. At Portland State, the essay you agonise over does not enter the decision. Nor does the sport, the club, the leadership position, the campus visit, the email to your regional admissions officer, or the SAT you sat twice. One factor is very important, one is considered, and the rest are explicitly out.
That is not a criticism of Portland State. It is arguably the most honest admissions policy in Oregon, and it is certainly the most legible. Compare it with the University of Oregon, which admits a similar share of applicants but publishes no retrievable statement of what it weights, and the difference is entirely in PSU's favour. An applicant can know, in advance, where they stand.
It also means that if Portland State is on your list, the only productive work is making sure the transcript and the 15 units are in order. Everything else is effort spent on an input the institution has told you it ignores.
What the Portland State Acceptance Rate Looks Like From the Inside
PSU's enrolled class averages a 3.36 high school GPA, with 98.3% reporting one. The distribution is the most revealing table in this cluster:
| High school GPA | Share of PSU's enrolled class |
| 4.0 | 3.7% |
| 3.75 to 3.99 | 19.9% |
| 3.50 to 3.74 | 19.7% |
| 3.25 to 3.49 | 16.9% |
| 3.00 to 3.24 | 16.2% |
| 2.50 to 2.99 | 19.3% |
| 2.00 to 2.49 | 2.5% |
| 1.00 to 1.99 | 0.1% |
Look at that 19.3%. Nearly one in five Portland State students arrived with a GPA between 2.50 and 2.99, which is below PSU's own holistic-review threshold. That is the holistic review working, at scale, and it tells you the mechanism is real rather than decorative.
Now set it against the rest of the state, because this comparison is the one that explains what Portland State is for:
Share of enrolled class with GPA below 3.00
| Portland State | 21.9% |
| Oregon State | 2% |
| Reed College | 0% |
Portland State is the only institution in this cluster that educates a substantial number of students who did not have a strong high school record. If that describes you, PSU is not your fallback. It is the institution in Oregon that was built for you, and the 90.9% rate is the policy showing up in the data.
Test scores barely exist here. 2.15% of PSU's enrolled class submitted an SAT and 2.97% an ACT, the lowest submission rates anywhere in this cluster and a twentieth of Reed's 61%. Among the handful who did, the SAT middle 50% was 1100 to 1290 and the ACT 19 to 27.5. Those figures describe about thirty students and should be ignored entirely as a benchmark.
And there is no waitlist. PSU states it has no waitlist policy, which follows naturally from admitting nine applicants in ten. Decisions are decisions.
The honest part: where Portland State is weakest
A page that only reported the good news here would be useless, so here is the figure that should temper everything above.
For first-time first-year students, Portland State meets 58.97% of demonstrated financial need on average, with an average need-based grant of $12,639.26. For full-time undergraduates generally the need-met figure drops to 54.06%.
That is the weakest need-meeting in this cluster, and it sits at the institution serving the students most likely to have need. A student with demonstrated need at PSU should expect roughly four-tenths of it uncovered, to be met from earnings, family contribution or borrowing. Against Reed College, which meets 100% of need, or Oregon State at 71.4%, this is a real gap and it belongs in the decision.
Two practical consequences. File the FAFSA as early as possible after 1 October; PSU is clear that the FAFSA is not required for an admission decision, but it is required for any chance at the aid that is available, and at 58.97% of need met the early-filing advantage matters more here than at a full-need institution. And treat housing as the lever that is actually yours, because for a commuter-heavy urban university it is the single biggest controllable cost. Student housing in Portland is the comparison worth running before term, since PSU's downtown location means the housing market rather than the university sets most of that price.
One disclosure on numbers. PSU's published cost section contained placeholder values rather than dollar amounts in the edition available, and no verified PSU tuition figure could be retrieved for this page, so none is quoted here rather than an unverified one. Get that directly from PSU's bursar.
And a disclosure on the data's age. These figures are from Portland State's 2023-24 filing, covering Fall 2023. PSU's newer editions are not publicly indexed and its institutional research pages returned errors on every attempt, so this is the most recent primary source available rather than the most recent year that exists. The published rule, which is the substance of this page, is current.
Who Portland State suits
Students with a 3.0 or better and the 15 units complete. You are in, on PSU's own published rule, and no amount of application polish will improve or endanger that. Apply and move on to the housing and funding questions.
Students between 2.50 and 2.99, who make up 19.3% of the enrolled class. Holistic review is not a formality and it is not a long shot. It is the ordinary route for a fifth of PSU's students.
Students who want a major city and a working life alongside study. PSU is downtown Portland, heavily commuter, and structured around students who are doing other things with their days. That is a genuine strength and it is why its GPA distribution looks nothing like Corvallis or Eugene.
Out-of-state applicants two language credits short, who are exempt from the second-language requirement that applies to Oregon graduates.
Who should think harder. Students with substantial financial need who have offers elsewhere, given the 58.97% of need met; Reed at 100% and Oregon State at 71.4% are materially better on that measure, if you can get in. Students who want a residential campus experience, which is not what a downtown commuter university is built to provide. And students whose record is strong enough for Oregon State or Reed, who should at least run those applications, since PSU's rule means their own application costs them almost no additional effort.
The short version
The Portland State acceptance rate of 90.9% is accurate and almost beside the point. What matters is that PSU publishes its decision rule: a 3.0 GPA and 15 units of college-prep coursework at C- or better gets you in, below 3.0 gets you a holistic read, and nothing else on your application is considered except a recommendation.
Check the transcript against the five subject rows. Fix any unit sitting below a C-. File the FAFSA in the first week of October. Then spend the time you would have spent on an essay working out where you are going to live, because at Portland State that is the decision with money attached.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Portland State acceptance rate?
90.9%, derived from Portland State's own counts for Fall 2023: 8,877 first-year applications, 8,070 admitted and 1,580 enrolled. PSU does not print the figure as a percentage. This is the most recent cycle retrievable from a primary source, as PSU's newer Common Data Set editions are not publicly indexed.
Is the Portland State University acceptance rate the whole story?
No, and PSU itself gives you something better. It publishes its decision rule: complete 15 units of college-preparatory coursework with grades of C- or better, and applicants below a 3.0 GPA are considered through holistic review. Its own federal filing rates academic GPA as the only "very important" factor, with recommendations "considered" and every other factor, including essays, extracurriculars, interviews, demonstrated interest and test scores, "not considered."
What GPA do you need for Portland State?
PSU publishes no minimum, but 3.0 is the functional threshold: applicants below it are read through holistic review rather than declined. The enrolled class averages 3.36, and notably 19.3% arrived with a GPA between 2.50 and 2.99 and a further 2.5% between 2.00 and 2.49. Roughly 22% of PSU's class came in below a 3.00, against 2% at Oregon State and 0% at Reed.
What courses does Portland State require?
Fifteen units of college-preparatory coursework with grades of C- or better: 4 units of English and language arts, 3 of science with one year of lab science recommended, 3 of social studies, at least 3 years of mathematics, and 2 units of the same second language for Oregon high school graduates only. The C- floor applies per course rather than on average, which is the most common reason an otherwise strong applicant ends up in holistic review.
Does Portland State require SAT or ACT scores?
No. PSU states that "submission of test scores is optional, and not required to receive an admission decision," and its own filing confirms test scores are not used in admission decisions at all. Only 2.15% of the enrolled class submitted an SAT and 2.97% an ACT, the lowest rates of any institution in Oregon, so the published score ranges describe about thirty students and should not be treated as a benchmark.
Does Portland State have a waitlist?
No. PSU states it has no waitlist policy, which follows from admitting roughly nine applicants in ten. Decisions are final rather than deferred, so there is no post-decision pool to wait in.
How much financial aid does Portland State give?
Less than its peers, and this is the weakest point in the case for PSU. For first-time first-year students it meets 58.97% of demonstrated need on average, with an average need-based grant of $12,639.26; for full-time undergraduates generally the need-met figure is 54.06%. Compare that with Oregon State at 71.4% and Reed College at 100%. File the FAFSA as soon as possible after 1 October, though it is not required for an admission decision.
Is Portland State easier to get into than the University of Oregon?
Slightly, and more importantly it is more predictable. Portland State admits 90.9% against the University of Oregon's roughly 88%, so the rates are close. The real difference is that PSU publishes its decision rule and UO does not publish a retrievable statement of what it weights, so a PSU applicant can know in advance whether they qualify.