Denison University
Granville, OH
Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, a suburb of a small city, with 2,380 undergraduates. Social sciences is its signature field: 21% of its bachelor's degrees, two and a half times its share across the colleges we cover. 79% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $67,753 ten years after starting.
Denison University admitted 2,385 of 12,202 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (19.5%).
- Acceptance rate
- 19.5%
- Fall 2025 class
- Tuition and fees
- $67,000
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $40,007
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1270–1420
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2025 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Denison University is known for
Measured by the 622 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Social sciences
20.6%
of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 8.0% share across the colleges we cover.
- Economics7812.5% of degrees$97,394+18% vs $82,686 nationally
- Communication and Media Studies518.2% of degrees$66,730+18% vs $56,359 nationally
- Biology477.6% of degrees$55,654About the $57,214 national median
- Research and Experimental Psychology457.2% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- International Business447.1% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
- Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness355.6% of degreesToo few graduates to publish
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Suburb of a small city
Granville, OH
Undergraduates
2,380
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Baccalaureate college, arts and sciences focus
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
9 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
18%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Denison University
Three things Denison University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Early Decision admitted 24.8%. The regular round admitted 18.8%.
1.3×
the regular-round rate
A ratio between two rates the school published. Not a change in anyone’s odds.
394 of 1,589 early applicants were admitted, against 1,991 of 10,613 in the regular round. Early Decision is binding, and you can only use it at one school, which is exactly why the gap is worth knowing before you choose where to spend it.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
1.3×
the regular-round rate
A ratio between two rates the school published. Not a change in anyone’s odds.
31 admitted from a waitlist of 1,376.
347 students accepted a place on that list, and 31 were admitted from it, 8.9% of the students who waited. A waitlist offer here is not a near-miss anyone can plan around.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
26.6% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 18.6% sent an ACT. Denison University files test scores under “considered”.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
19.5%
2,385 admitted of 12,202 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
1270–1420
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
ACT, middle 50%
28–33
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
26.6%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
18.6%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at Denison University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Denison University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $67,000, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $81,900. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $40,007 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$67,000
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$81,900
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$40,007
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $81,900 full cost.
- Under $30k$16,656Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$13,086Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$17,827Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$20,839Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$48,472Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
79%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
89%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$67,753
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$26,000
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Over 5 years the admit rate fell from 34% to 17%.
What Denison University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Essayrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Test scoresconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
The early round, in counts
Two published rates side by side. Early applicants are a different group of students, so the gap is a fact about those pools, not a lever anyone can pull.
Early Decision
1.3× the rateEarly Decision admitted 24.8% (394 of 1,589), against 18.8% in the regular round.
1,991 of 10,613 in the comparison pool.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Offered a waitlist place
- 1,376
- Accepted the place
- 347
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 31
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Ohio
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- Kenyon College30.7%
- Art Academy of Cincinnati33.1%
- Oberlin College34.2%
- Case Western Reserve University35.3%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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