These tables accompany “It’s Still Hard to Earn Admission to America’s Top Colleges . . . and Getting Harder,” by Michael J. Petrilli and Heena Kuwayama.
Increase in Median SAT Scores, 1986–2023
Scroll for results. Colleges in red required SAT scores from all applicants for admission in 2023.
College | 1986 | 2016 | 2023 | Score change 2016 to 2023 |
Elon University | 1032 | 1262 | 1280 | 18 |
New York University | 1275 | 1410 | 1520 | 110 |
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill | 1230 | 1323 | 1460 | 137 |
Boston College | 1260 | 1420 | 1490 | 70 |
Emory University | 1290 | 1420 | 1500 | 80 |
SUNY at Stony Brook University | 1190 | 1350 | 1400 | 50 |
University of Massachusetts–Amherst | 1175 | 1300 | 1380 | 80 |
Loyola Marymount University | 1155 | 1290 | 1360 | 70 |
University of Richmond | 1280 | 1380 | 1460 | 80 |
University of Miami | 1230 | 1360 | 1410 | 50 |
North Carolina State University–Raleigh | 1180 | 1323 | 1360 | 37 |
Case Western Reserve University | 1310 | 1460 | 1490 | 30 |
University of Pittsburgh | 1182 | 1340 | 1360 | 20 |
Villanova University | 1263 | 1380 | 1440 | 60 |
Fordham University | 1230 | 1340 | 1400 | 60 |
Hamilton College | 1310 | 1440 | 1480 | 40 |
Gonzaga University | 1157 | 1260 | 1325 | 65 |
Wake Forest University | 1285 | 1365 | 1450 | 85 |
Tufts University | 1337 | 1440 | 1500 | 60 |
Wellesley College | 1350 | 1447 | 1510 | 63 |
Denison University | 1210 | 1346 | 1370 | 24 |
Vassar College | 1333 | 1460 | 1490 | 30 |
Tulane University | 1295 | 1400 | 1450 | 50 |
Boston University | 1297 | 1370 | 1450 | 80 |
Purdue University | 1177 | 1310 | 1330 | 20 |
Washington and Lee University | 1340 | 1430 | 1490 | 60 |
Middlebury College | 1350 | 1455 | 1500 | 45 |
University of Notre Dame | 1350 | 1480 | 1500 | 20 |
University of Chicago | 1391 | 1540 | 1540 | 0 |
Pepperdine University | 1213 | 1297 | 1360 | 63 |
Southern Methodist University | 1258 | 1380 | 1405 | 25 |
Brown University | 1395 | 1520 | 1540 | 20 |
Johns Hopkins University | 1410 | 1440 | 1550 | 110 |
Skidmore College | 1240 | 1300 | 1380 | 80 |
Binghamton University–SUNY | 1270 | 1380 | 1410 | 30 |
Florida State University | 1180 | 1310 | 1320 | 10 |
Clemson University | 1182 | 1312 | 1320 | 8 |
University of Florida | 1253 | 1335 | 1390 | 55 |
American University | 1235 | 1310 | 1370 | 60 |
Smith College | 1340 | 1415 | 1470 | 55 |
Kenyon College | 1310 | 1392 | 1440 | 48 |
Georgia Institute of Technology | 1310 | 1460 | 1440 | -20 |
Grinnell College | 1331 | 1445 | 1460 | 15 |
New Jersey Institute of Technology | 1207 | 1280 | 1335 | 55 |
Indiana University–Bloomington | 1161 | 1241 | 1280 | 39 |
Rice University | 1424 | 1510 | 1540 | 30 |
Macalester College | 1308 | 1430 | 1420 | -10 |
Lehigh University | 1325 | 1380 | 1430 | 50 |
University of Virginia | 1347 | 1410 | 1450 | 40 |
Dickinson College | 1252 | 1353 | 1355 | 2 |
Princeton University | 1439 | 1530 | 1540 | 10 |
Williams College | 1420 | 1490 | 1520 | 30 |
Swarthmore College | 1420 | 1490 | 1520 | 30 |
Davidson College | 1357 | 1420 | 1455 | 35 |
Lafayette College | 1320 | 1348 | 1410 | 62 |
Brandeis University | 1360 | 1420 | 1450 | 30 |
Colorado School of Mines | 1310 | 1375 | 1400 | 25 |
Oberlin College | 1350 | 1420 | 1440 | 20 |
Furman University | 1254 | 1290 | 1340 | 50 |
University of Delaware | 1198 | 1280 | 1280 | 0 |
Virginia Tech | 1249 | 1285 | 1330 | 45 |
Yale University | 1460 | 1540 | 1540 | 0 |
Marquette University | 1197 | 1260 | 1270 | 10 |
Texas A&M University–College Station | 1190 | 1270 | 1260 | -10 |
Pennsylvania State University–University Park | 1244 | 1260 | 1310 | 50 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1490 | 1540 | 1550 | 10 |
Harvey Mudd College | 1460 | 1520 | 1520 | 0 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic University | 1370 | 1430 | 1430 | 0 |
Clark University | 1265 | 1300 | 1320 | 20 |
DePauw University | 1230 | 1250 | 1280 | 30 |
College of the Holy Cross | 1310 | 1354 | 1340 | -14 |
Drexel University | 1310 | 1270 | 1330 | 60 |
Miami University–Oxford | 1254 | 1310 | 1270 | -40 |
Wesleyan University | 1420 | 1420 | 1430 | 10 |
United States Military Academy | 1340 | 1343 | 1350 | 7 |
The University of the South | 1300 | 1310 | 1290 | -20 |
Bryn Mawr College | 1410 | 1370 | 1390 | 20 |
Bucknell University | 1312 | 1360 | 1270 | -90 |
Median SAT Scores, 1986–2023 (“twin” results)
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Median score | 2023 colleges | 2016 colleges | 1986 colleges |
1160 | Berea College | UC-Irvine
IU-Bloomington Loyola Marymount Gonzaga |
|
1180 | Pomona
UC-Santa Cruz |
NC State-Raleigh
University of Pittsburgh Clemson University UC-Riverside Purdue University UMass-Amherst |
|
1240 | IU-Bloomington | Skidmore College
Penn State UC-Santa Cruz American University |
|
1250 | DePauw University | Miami University
Dickinson College Furman University University of Florida Virginia Tech |
|
1260 | Texas A&M | Gonzaga University
Penn State Elon University Marquette University |
Boston College
Villanova University Southern Methodist University |
1270 | Bucknell University
Miami University Marquette University |
Drexel University
Texas A&M |
Thomas Aquinas University
Binghamton University-SUNY Clark University |
1280 | IU-Bloomington
DePauw University Elon University University of Delaware |
University of San Diego
University of Delaware New Jersey Institute of Technology |
University of Richmond
New York University |
1290 | The University of the South | Furman University
Loyola Marymount University Virginia Tech |
Emory University
Wake Forest University |
1300 | Skidmore College
UMass-Amherst Clark University Pepperdine University |
The University of the South
UC-Berkeley Tulane University Boston University |
|
1310 | Penn State | American University
Purdue University Florida State University Clemson University The University of the South Miami University |
Drexel University
Kenyon College Hamilton College Case Western Reserve University Colorado School of Mines College of the Holy Cross Georgia Tech Bucknell University Worcester Polytechnic Institute Macalester College |
1320 | Clark University
Florida State University Clemson University |
Thomas Aquinas University
NC State-Raleigh UNC-Chapel Hill |
Lafayette College |
1330 | Drexel University
Virginia Tech Purdue University Gonzaga University |
Vassar College
Grinnell College Lehigh University |
|
1340 | Furman University
College of the Holy Cross New Jersey Institute of Technology |
OSU-Columbus
US Military Academy University of Pittsburgh Fordham University University of Florida |
Washington and Lee University
Smith College US Military Academy Tufts University |
1350 | US Military Academy | SUNY-Stonybrook University
Dickinson College College of the Holy Cross Pitzer College Lafayette College Denison University Duke University |
Wellesley College
Middlebury College Oberlin College University of Notre Dame University of Virginia |
1360 | Loyola Marymount University
Pepperdine University NC State-Raleigh University of Pittsburgh Dickinson College |
University of Miami
Bucknell University |
Brandeis University
Davidson College US Naval Academy |
1370 | American University
Denison University |
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Bryn Mawr College Boston University Wake Forest University |
Rensselaer Polytechnic University |
1380 | Skidmore College
UMass-Amherst |
University of Richmond
Villanova University Lehigh University Binghamton University-SUNY Southern Methodist University UCLA Colorado School of Mines |
|
1390 | University of Florida
Bryn Mawr College |
Kenyon College | Pomona College
University of Chicago |
1400 | Fordham University
SUNY-Stonybrook University Colorado School of Mines |
US Naval Academy
Tulane University UC-San Diego |
Duke University
Brown University |
1410 | Lafayette College
University of Miami Binghamton University-SUNY Southern Methodist University |
New York University
University of Virginia |
Johns Hopkins University
Bryn Mawr College |
1420 | Macalester College | Emory University
Boston College Davidson College Brandeis University Oberlin College Wesleyan University Smith College |
Rice University
Swarthmore College Williams College Wesleyan University |
1430 | Rensselaer Polytechnic University
Wesleyan University Lehigh University |
Washington and Lee University
Rensselaer Polytechnic University Macalester College UC-Berkeley |
|
1440 | Georgia Tech
Oberlin College Kenyon College Villanova University |
Johns Hopkins University
Tufts University Hamilton College |
Princeton University |
1450 | Wake Forest University
Boston University Tulane University University of Virginia Brandeis University |
Wellesley College
Grinnell College |
|
1460 | UNC-Chapel Hill
University of Richmond Grinnell College Davidson College |
Georgia Tech
Vassar College Case Western Reserve University Middlebury College |
Harvey Mudd College
Yale University |
1480 | Hamilton College | University of Notre Dame | |
1490 | Vassar College
Case Western Reserve University Washington and Lee University Boston College |
Williams College
Swarthmore College |
MIT |
1510 | Wellesley College | Rice University | |
1520 | Pomona College
New York University Swarthmore College Williams College Harvey Mudd College |
Brown University
Harvey Mudd College |
|
1540 | Rice University
Brown University Princeton University University of Chicago Yale University |
MIT
University of Chicago Yale University |