Elon University

Overview

Rankings

• #3 Best Business Colleges in North Carolina
• #4 Best Communications Colleges in North Carolina
• #7 Best MBA Programs in North Carolina
• #8 Best Education Colleges in North Carolina
• #12 Best Colleges in North Carolina
• #13 Best Bachelor's Programs in North Carolina
• #13 Best Master's Programs in North Carolina
• #16 Best Biology Colleges in North Carolina

Academics & Admissions

Is It Hard to Get Into Elon University? Acceptance Rate & Requirements

Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina, offers a realistic path to admission, with roughly 66% of applicants receiving an offer. Admitted students typically arrive with an average SAT score near 1,208. The graduation rate is roughly 84%.

Acceptance Rate

66%

Retention Rate

90%

SAT Average

1208

SAT Range

1130–1280

ACT Range

23–28

Full-Time Faculty

82%

Faculty Salary (mo)

$10,563

Student–Faculty Ratio

11:1

Diversity Index

0.42

First-Gen Students

9%

Applicants

17,551

Admitted

13,069

Inside the Admissions Office

School-reported Common Data Set · 2024-25

The acceptance rate tells you how hard Elon University is to get into. Its Common Data Set tells you what happens once you are admitted: how many students say yes, how many arrived without test scores, and whether applying early tilts the odds. 13% of admitted students go on to enroll here, making it a school most admitted students ultimately pass on.

Yield Rate

13%

of admits enroll

Submitted SAT

32%

of enrolled freshmen

Submitted ACT

19%

of enrolled freshmen

Cost & Financial Aid

How Much Does It Cost to Attend Elon University? Tuition, Net Price & Aid

Published tuition at Elon University is $46,958, but few families pay that. The number to watch is net price, what students actually pay each year after federal grants and institutional scholarships. Here it averages about $41,555. Students from families earning under $30,000 typically pay closer to $26,523 after need-based grants. The median graduate leaves with about $20,500 in federal student loans.

In-State Tuition

$46,958

Out-of-State

$46,958

Avg Net Price

$41,555

Median Debt

$20,500

Pell Grant Rate

10%

Federal Loan Rate

24%

Students Like You

Tell us a little about yourself to see what students like you have typically experienced at Elon University — the net price for your income, your admission odds, and the outcomes that follow. These are patterns from federal data, not predictions.

Graduate Outcomes

Is Elon University Worth It? Graduate Earnings & ROI

Ten years out, alumni of Elon University earn a median of $74,545, well above the national average for bachelor's degree holders.

6 Years After Entry

$58,082

8 Years

$65,954

10 Years

$74,545

Debt-to-Earnings

0.28x

Earning > $25K

80%

Social Mobility

Data: Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card · 30M+ anonymized tax records

Does Elon University Drive Upward Mobility? Economic Mobility & Low-Income Outcomes

Elon University is a measurable contributor to upward mobility. Its mobility rate, the share of students who start in the bottom income quintile and climb to the top, is 0.64%, in line with strong performers nationally. Access is narrower: only about 2.1% of students come from the bottom income quintile, typical of more selective, higher-income institutions. Among bottom-quintile students who attend, roughly 30.9% go on to reach the top of the income ladder. The median family income of students sits near $146,000, a snapshot of the campus's socioeconomic mix.

Mobility Rate

0.64%

Bottom 20% → Top 20%

Success Rate

30.9%

If bottom 20% get in

From Bottom 20%

2.1%

Share of students

Parent Median Income

$198,363

today's $ (2015 cohort data)

Social Capital

Data: Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas

How Connected Is Elon University? Social Capital & Cross-Class Networks

Social capital, the web of cross-class friendships that researchers link to long-run upward mobility, runs high at Elon University. Its economic connectedness score is 1.82, where about 1.0 is the national norm. Its friending bias is low (0.00), a sign that students from different economic backgrounds actually mix rather than self-segregate. Around 8% of students take part in civic and volunteering activity.

Economic Connectedness

1.82

Cross-class friendships

Friending Bias

0.00

Lower = more inclusive

Volunteering Rate

7.7%

Support Ratio

1.00

Community support

Institutional Finances

Data: NCES IPEDS

Federal Grants

$9,634,457

Investment Income

$-13,954,334

Top Programs

The fields Elon University awards the most degrees in, by share of completions. Where federal field-of-study data exists, we show what graduates in that major earned early in their careers. Each links to its degree guide — or see what someone with your income, scores, and major would pay and earn here in the Students Like You simulator.

• Business & Marketing 30% $73,851 early-career
• Communications 18% $48,857 early-career
• Psychology 7% $28,100 early-career
• Social Sciences 5% $52,505 early-career
• Health Professions 5% $123,644 early-career
• Visual & Performing Arts 5% $36,562 early-career
• Biology & Biomedical 4% $29,935 early-career
• Education 4% $46,778 early-career

Early-career median earnings by major (typically 1–2 years after completion, bachelor's level where available), in today's dollars (CPI-adjusted). Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard field of study. Distinct from the school-wide 10-year median; suppressed for small programs.