Harvard Acceptance Rate Falls to Record Low on Testing Policy

(Bloomberg) -- The odds of getting into Harvard are worse than ever.

The Ivy League school fielded a record number of applications this year, partly in light of test-optional policies during the pandemic, reducing its acceptance rate to 3.2%, an all-time low. 

The university said Thursday that it offered spots to 1,954 students for next year's freshman class, selected from more than 61,000 applicants. Women account for more than half, 54.2%, the highest share of female applicants accepted. Harvard received 7% more applications from last year, when it admitted 3.4%.

Colleges across the U.S. have seen spikes in applications with test-optional policies, started during the Covid-19 pandemic as students couldn't safely access test sites. 

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Harvard announced it won't require the SAT or ACT for several more years, affecting students as young as current eighth-graders. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said this week it would reinstate the tests.

Harvard, the richest U.S. college, also also made its financial aid more generous, increasing the annual income limit for a free education to $75,000 from $65,000. Harvard's endowment gained $11 billion in the last fiscal year. Admitted students have until May 2 to decide if they'll attend.

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