Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, a large city, with 7,208 undergraduates. Social sciences and interdisciplinary studies are its signature fields: together they make up 43% of its bachelor's degrees, about four times their share across the colleges we cover. 94% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $91,565 ten years after starting.
Vanderbilt University admitted 2,593 of 48,196 applicants for the fall 2025 entering class (5.4%).
- Acceptance rate
- 5.4%
- Fall 2025 class
- Tuition and fees
- $67,498
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $15,846
- Average, students with aid
- ACT, middle 50%
- 34–35
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 Vanderbilt University is known for
Measured by the 2,590 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Social sciences
29.6%
of its bachelor's degrees: three and a half times the 8.0% share across the colleges we cover.
Interdisciplinary studies
13.5%
of its bachelor's degrees: about five times the 2.9% share across the colleges we cover.
- Social Sciences30211.7% of degrees$103,229+93% vs $53,366 nationally
- Economics28611.0% of degrees$140,337+70% vs $82,686 nationally
- Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies (other)26310.2% of degrees$86,559+55% vs $55,693 nationally
- Computer Science1987.6% of degrees$160,021+50% vs $107,009 nationally
- Mathematics1576.1% of degrees$141,171+103% vs $69,562 nationally
- Political Science and Government1305.0% of degrees$102,789+62% vs $63,293 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
Large city
Nashville, TN
Undergraduates
7,208
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral university, very high research activity
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
8 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
11%
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 Vanderbilt University
Three things Vanderbilt 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.
Vanderbilt University files the essay under “very important”.
That is the top of the scale the form offers, and the only other factors this school puts there are Course rigor, GPA and Class rank.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Vanderbilt University files test scores under “important”.
That is the school’s own placement on the grid it publishes every year. 25% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
25% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 26% sent an ACT. Vanderbilt University files test scores under “important”.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
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
5.4%
2,593 admitted of 48,196 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
SAT, middle 50%
Reading 740–770Math 770–790
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
ACT, middle 50%
34–35
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
25%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
26%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Where do you actually stand at Vanderbilt 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.
See where I stand ›3 days free · $0 today · cancel anytime
What Vanderbilt University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $67,498, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $89,590. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $15,846 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$67,498
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$89,590
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$15,846
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $89,590 full cost.
- Under $30k$3,414Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$1,876Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$4,498Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$12,153Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$45,145Typical 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
94%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
96%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$91,565
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$14,000
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.
What Vanderbilt University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Essayvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Class rankvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Test scoresimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
- Recommendationsimportant
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Not considered
- Demonstrated interest
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Admitted from the waitlist
- 207
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2025
Essays on this application
2 essay prompts on the application: you would write 1.
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
Guides for Vanderbilt University applicants
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Tennessee
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- The University of Tennessee-Knoxville43.6%
- Union University47.2%
- Rhodes College49.7%
- The University of the South50.9%
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.
See where I stand ›3 days free · $0 today · cancel anytime
