Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Lehigh University is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a small city, with 5,898 undergraduates. Engineering and computer science are its signature fields: together they make up 36% of its bachelor's degrees, about three times their share across the colleges we cover. 88% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $105,584 ten years after starting.
Lehigh University admitted 5,601 of 19,342 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (29%).
- Acceptance rate
- 29%
- Fall 2025 class
- Tuition and fees
- $64,980
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $36,931
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1380–1480
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 Lehigh University is known for
Measured by the 1,408 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Engineering
21.7%
of its bachelor's degrees: about three times the 6.9% share across the colleges we cover.
Computer science
13.8%
of its bachelor's degrees: two and a half times the 5.6% share across the colleges we cover.
- Finance and Financial Management Services19313.7% of degrees$127,210+53% vs $83,343 nationally
- Computer Science14710.4% of degrees$141,691+32% vs $107,009 nationally
- Mechanical Engineering725.1% of degrees$96,618+5% vs $92,135 nationally
- Psychology634.5% of degrees$74,939+48% vs $50,706 nationally
- Marketing604.3% of degrees$98,320+42% vs $69,303 nationally
- Biology553.9% of degrees$75,611+32% vs $57,214 nationally
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
Small city
Bethlehem, PA
Undergraduates
5,898
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral university, high research activity
Living on campus
A quarter to half
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
10 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
7%
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 Lehigh University
Three things Lehigh 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 47.4%. The regular round admitted 26.8%.
1.8×
the regular-round rate
A ratio between two rates the school published. Not a change in anyone’s odds.
966 of 2,040 early applicants were admitted, against 4,635 of 17,302 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
1.8×
the regular-round rate
A ratio between two rates the school published. Not a change in anyone’s odds.
Lehigh University files test scores under “important”.
That is the school’s own placement on the grid it publishes every year. 33% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
80 admitted from a waitlist of 4,083.
1,988 students accepted a place on that list, and 80 were admitted from it, 4% 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
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
29%
5,601 admitted of 19,342 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
1380–1480
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
ACT, middle 50%
31–34
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
33%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
10.3%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Where do you actually stand at Lehigh 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 Lehigh University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $64,980, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $80,856. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $36,931 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$64,980
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$80,856
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$36,931
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $80,856 full cost.
- Under $30k$16,917Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$17,140Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$18,722Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$22,184Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$48,751Typical 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
88%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
94%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$105,584
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$21,960
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.
What Lehigh University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Essayimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Test scoresimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Recommendationsimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rankimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
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
1.8× the rateEarly Decision admitted 47.4% (966 of 2,040), against 26.8% in the regular round.
4,635 of 17,302 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
- 4,083
- Accepted the place
- 1,988
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 80
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Essays on this application
9 essay prompts on the application: you would write 2, and 7 are not yet confirmed.
A prompt we have not yet confirmed is counted on its own rather than called optional, treating an unconfirmed prompt as optional is how a student skips an essay their college expects.
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 Pennsylvania
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- Villanova University28.1%
- Bryn Mawr College31.1%
- Lafayette College31.5%
- Franklin and Marshall College31.8%
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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