Clemson University was founded in 1889 as an all-male military college. The school was named after Thomas Green Clemson, a prominent South Carolina businessman and politician who bequeathed his estate to the state for the purpose of founding the college. Initially, Clemson offered only two degrees: mechanical engineering and agriculture. In 1893, the school opened its first graduate program and began offering degrees in electrical engineering. During World War II, Clemson was one of six colleges chosen to participate in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
In 1964, Clemson became coeducational and began enrolling female students as well as male students. In 1965, Clemson University gained autonomy from the state government and officially became an independent university. In 1967, it opened its first graduate school and began offering doctoral degrees in many fields including education, engineering, business administration and science. Since then, Clemson has continued to expand its academic offerings by adding several new degree programs including computer science, finance and accounting. Today, Clemson is one of the largest universities in South Carolina with over 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled across seven colleges offering over 80 undergraduate majors and over 120 graduate programs overall.
Clemson University, as one of the top colleges ranked by major educational institutions, has impressed us by its high selectivity and student friendly application process during admissions. The following tables detail 2018 class profile, including total applications received, average high school GPA, SAT scores/ACT scores, and acceptance rates of Clemson University. To learn more about GPA, SAT and ACT scores information, please follow the links below. If you want to find even more about Clemson University, such as tuition fees and scholarships, you can click the link after tables to visit the school’s official website.
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University acronym: https://www.abbreviationfinder.org/acronyms/cu_clemson-university.html
Admissions Stats
Clemson University is an extremely competitive school to get into and has a highly selective admissions process. In the 2019-2020 academic year, Clemson accepted only 27% of applicants. This is significantly lower than the national average acceptance rate of 66%. The middle 50% of admitted students had a GPA range of 3.6-4.0, while the middle 50% of accepted SAT scores ranged from 1140-1300 and ACT scores ranged from 25-30. Those accepted to Clemson are among the top high school performers in the country. Additionally, Clemson looks for students who have demonstrated leadership ability, commitment to their community, strong academic performance, and good character qualities when reviewing applications.
Fall 2022 Selectivity
| Selectivity | more selective |
| Fall 2022 acceptance rate | 58% |
| Early decision acceptance rate | N/A |
| Early action acceptance rate | N/A |
| Acceptance rate (excluding early action and early decision students) | 58% |
Fall 2022 Applications, Acceptances & Enrollments
| Applicants | 16,865 |
| Female applicants | 8,770 |
| Male applicants | 8,095 |
| Applicants accepted | 9,724 |
| Female applicants accepted | 4,667 |
| Male applicants accepted | 5,057 |
| Freshman enrollment | 3,016 |
| Female freshman enrollment | 1,514 |
| Male freshman enrollment | 1,502 |
| Early decision applicants | N/A |
| Early decision applicants accepted | N/A |
| Early decision applicants enrolled | N/A |
| Early action applicants | N/A |
| Early action applicants accepted | N/A |
| Early action applicants enrolled | N/A |
| Total enrolled incoming freshmen who were accepted under early acceptance or early action | N/A |
Fall 2022 Wait List
| School has a wait list | Yes |
| Applicants placed on wait list | 1,385 |
| Students accepting place on wait list | 718 |
| Students accepted from wait list | 196 |
Fall 2022 High School Rank
| Freshman students submitting high school class standing | 100% |
Fall 2022 High School GPA
| Freshman students submitting high school GPA | 100% |
| Average high school GPA | 3.9 |
| High school GPA 25th-75th percentile range | 3.8-4 |
Fall 2022 Freshman SAT Scores
| Freshman students submitting SAT scores | 72% |
| SAT Critical Reading average score | 599 |
| SAT Critical Reading 25th-75th percentile range | 550-650 |
| SAT Math average score | 632 |
| SAT Math 25th-75th percentile range: | 590-680 |
| SAT Writing average score | 587 |
| SAT Writing 25th-75th percentile range | 540-640 |
| SAT Essay 25th-75th percentile range | N/A |
Fall 2022 Freshman ACT Scores
| Freshman students submitting ACT scores | 28% |
| Average ACT Composite score | 28 |
| ACT Composite 25th-75th percentile range | 26-30 |
| ACT English 25th-75th percentile range | N/A |
| ACT English score breakdown | N/A |
| ACT Math 25th-75th percentile range | N/A |
| ACT Math score breakdown | N/A |