The Syracuse acceptance rate is 45.9%. That one figure is built from six separate pieces of data, and each piece tells you something the headline hides. This page takes it apart in the order that matters.
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Piece 1: 44,480 Applications
Syracuse received 44,480 applications for the 2024-25 cycle.
That is a large pool for a university of Syracuse's size, and the first thing it tells you is that Syracuse is not a regional fallback. It competes nationally and is applied to nationally. For comparison, Virginia Tech received 57,756 and James Madison 43,836, both much larger undergraduate institutions.
A university this widely applied to has no shortage of candidates, which is what makes the next number interesting rather than alarming.
Piece 2: 20,427 Admitted, Which Gives the Syracuse Acceptance Rate
Syracuse admitted 20,427 students, which gives the 45.9% rate.
Nearly half. On its own that suggests a university admitting generously from a strong pool, and in a sense it is. But 20,427 offers for an entering class that ends up far smaller is the setup for the piece that follows.
Piece 3: 3,835 Enrolled, Which Is a 19% Yield
Here is where the number stops being about admissions and starts being about you.
Of 20,427 admitted students, 3,835 enrolled. That is a yield of 19%, so roughly four in five admitted students went somewhere else.
Syracuse hands out about five offers for every student who arrives. That is the normal condition of a strong private university that most applicants hold alongside something else, and it has two consequences worth acting on.
Your offer is not scarce. Compare it properly against everything else you hold, on cost above all.
Demonstrated interest is worth something. When a university knows four in five admits will leave, evidence that you actually intend to come carries weight. Visit if you can, engage with communications, and write the supplements as though someone is checking. Someone is.
Across our clusters, a 19% yield puts Syracuse alongside Ohio State at 21% and FAU at about 20%, and well below the University of Florida at 43%.
Piece 4: A 3.69 Average GPA, With 27% at 4.0
This is the piece that actually governs your chances.
Enrolled first-years averaged a 3.69 GPA, and 27% arrived with a 4.0. Class rank data fills in the rest: 33% were in the top tenth of their high school class and 65% in the top quarter.
Read that against the 45.9% rate and the picture resolves. Syracuse admits nearly half its applicants, and the students who enrol are solidly above average without being uniformly exceptional. A third of the class was top-decile; two thirds were top-quartile; a third were not.
The practical threshold: a GPA in the high 3s makes you a strong candidate. Around 3.3 to 3.5 you are inside the range the class was drawn from. Below 3.0 the 45.9% figure starts to flatter you.
Piece 5: Only 22% Submitted an SAT
Syracuse is test-optional for 2026-27, and applicants who do not submit remain eligible for merit scholarships.
The submission rates show how thoroughly students have taken that up: 22% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT and 9% an ACT. Roughly three quarters of the class was admitted without a test score in the file.
Among those who did submit, the SAT middle 50% ran 1270 to 1440 and the ACT 29 to 32. Those are strong numbers, and that is exactly the point: they describe the quarter of students who thought their scores would help, not the standard you are measured against.
What to do with that: send a score at or above 1270, roughly the 25th percentile of submitters. Below that, use the test-optional route, which three quarters of your future classmates did.
Piece 6: What Syracuse University Tuition Does to the Calculation
Syracuse is a private university, which means no residency discount and no four-year cohort rate lock of the kind we found across Ohio's public system in the colleges in Ohio guide.
It also means the published price is a poor guide to what you will pay. Private universities discount heavily, and merit scholarships at Syracuse are available to test-optional applicants, so the sticker figure and your figure can differ substantially.
Flagged for review. Syracuse's current tuition was not verified for this page and no figure is quoted rather than risk an inaccurate one. Confirm at syracuse.edu and run the net price calculator before comparing Syracuse against anything.
What can be said confidently is the comparison that matters in New York. SUNY charges residents $7,070 and CUNY $6,930, both potentially free under the Excelsior Scholarship for households under $125,000. A New York resident choosing Syracuse over SUNY is choosing to pay for something, and the thing being paid for should be nameable. The colleges in New York guide sets out how wide that gap runs.
The Piece Nobody Counts: Syracuse Rent
Average rent in Syracuse is $1,699 a month, and it fell 0.28% over the past year.
| Unit | Syracuse | Per bedroom |
| Studio | $1,380 | $1,380 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,384 | $1,384 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,658 | $829 |
| 3 bedroom | $2,511 | $837 |
Two things in that table are worth money.
A studio costs $1,380 and a one-bedroom $1,384. Four dollars apart. If you are renting alone in Syracuse there is no argument for the studio, and we have now found this same inversion in six college towns across three states. It persists because students assume smaller must mean cheaper.
Sharing barely improves between two and three bedrooms, at $829 against $837. In most markets the three-bed is meaningfully cheaper per head. In Syracuse it is not, so pick on housemates and location rather than on unit size.
At $837 per bedroom Syracuse sits in the middle of New York: cheaper than Ithaca at $1,034 and far cheaper than New York City at $2,688, dearer than Troy at $735.
Flagged for review. Syracuse rent is September 2026 market data across all housing, not student-specific rates.
Syracuse guarantees housing for first-year students. Before the second-year decision read college dorms versus off-campus housing, and how to book on-campus housing at US universities covers the process. Take the apartment tour checklist to viewings, and read what subletting means before signing a twelve-month lease against a nine-month year. International students should read renting without a credit history in the USA and co-signing student leases in the USA early.
Reassembling the Number
Put the six pieces back together and 45.9% means something quite specific: a nationally applied-to private university, admitting about half of a large pool, enrolling a fifth of those it admits, drawing a class that averages 3.69 and mostly arrives without a test score, into a mid-priced upstate rental market.
That is a useful institution and a realistic target for a good student. It is not a safety school, and it is not a selective one either. It is the kind of university where your application being complete and well matched matters more than your application being exceptional.
Who Syracuse Suits
It suits students with strong transcripts and ordinary test scores, because with three quarters of the class admitted test-optional, Syracuse has built a process that genuinely does not need a score from you.
It suits students in Syracuse's distinctive programme areas, where the university's reputation is specific rather than general, and that specificity is the honest reason to pay private tuition in a state with free public options.
It suits students who want a real campus community in a mid-sized city at mid-range rent, with the second-year off-campus market priced sensibly.
It suits you least well if you are a New York resident eligible for Excelsior and cannot name what Syracuse gives you that SUNY does not. Free tuition is a demanding benchmark, and the burden of proof sits with the expensive option. It also suits you less well if you are counting on Syracuse as a safety, since at 45.9% more than half of applicants are turned away.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Syracuse acceptance rate?
Syracuse's acceptance rate is 45.9%. The university admitted 20,427 students from 44,480 applications and enrolled 3,835.
What is the syracuse university acceptance rate yield?
About 19%. Syracuse admitted 20,427 students and 3,835 enrolled, so roughly four in five admitted students chose elsewhere.
What are the syracuse gpa requirements?
Syracuse publishes no minimum. Enrolled first-years averaged a 3.69 GPA, with 27% at 4.0, 33% in the top tenth of their class and 65% in the top quarter.
What is syracuse university tuition?
Syracuse is private, so there is no residency discount. This page does not quote a figure because it was not verified; check syracuse.edu and run the net price calculator, since private universities discount heavily and merit aid is available to test-optional applicants.
Do you need SAT scores for Syracuse?
No. Syracuse is test-optional for 2026-27 and only 22% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT, with 9% submitting an ACT. Submitters scored 1270 to 1440 on the SAT and 29 to 32 on the ACT.
Is Syracuse hard to get into?
Moderately. At 45.9% more than half of applicants are turned away, but the enrolled class averages a 3.69 GPA rather than an exceptional one. A high-3s transcript makes you a strong candidate.
How much is rent in Syracuse?
Average rent is $1,699 a month, with a three-bedroom at $2,511, which is about $837 per person. A studio at $1,380 costs almost the same as a one-bedroom at $1,384.
Does Syracuse publish acceptance rates by school or college?
Not in the data used here. Treat any per-school figure you find elsewhere as an estimate unless Syracuse itself publishes it.
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What the Number Is Worth Knowing For
The honest use of 45.9% is as a planning figure, not a comfort. It tells you Syracuse is reachable with a good transcript and no test score, and that you will be one of roughly five admits competing for one seat the university expects to fill from elsewhere.
Which means the two things worth your effort are showing genuine interest, because the yield makes it valuable, and running the net price honestly against New York's free public option before you commit.