The University admitted 1,225 students Dec. 12 in the early decision admissions cycle from a pool of 5,108 applicants, yielding an acceptance rate of 25 percent for in-state applicants and 23 percent for out-of-state applicants. ED is the first of three rounds of applications — the other two being Early Action and Regular Decision, which will be announced in the Spring.
ED is a binding admission option in which students contractually agree to attend the University upon admission, and they are prohibited from entering into any other binding admission agreement with any other higher-education institution. Students are permitted to apply to other schools prior to receiving their admission decision, but must withdraw their applications upon admission to the University.
This year's admission cycle saw 137 more ED applicants than last year’s cycle — a 2.7 percent increase — for another record-breaking year of ED application numbers. Of the 5,108 ED applicants, 3,077 were Virginia residents and 2,031 were out-of-state residents. There was a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of out-of-state applicants compared to last year's admission cycle and a 10.1 percent increase in the number of applications from in-state students.
In addition to an increased number of applications, the number of admission offers for in-state students decreased from 825 last year to 766 this year. For out-of-state students, the number of admission offers increased from 457 to 459. The University did not share the number of students who were deferred in this application cycle. Last year, 1,221 students were deferred in the ED round.
The University originally suspended the ED choice beginning with the 2007-2008 application cycle, but it reinstated the option for the 2019-2020 application cycle. Since the reimplementation of ED in 2019, there has been a 136.6 percent increase in the number of ED applications. Additionally, there was a 44.3 percent increase in the total number of applications received from 2019-2024. Total student enrollment during the same period has increased by 1 percent.
Prior University administrations have raised concerns that the ED cycle may provide an advantage to high-income students. To address these concerns, University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover said in a statement to The Cavalier Daily that the University aims to increase access to higher education for all students through programs and services such as application fee waivers, travel vouchers and the All Virginia program that aims to make University education more accessible.
“Our All Virginia program also engages Virginia high schools with high rates of socioeconomic disadvantage and low rates of U.Va. applications and enrollment,” Glover said. “Students who may not have believed college was an option are encouraged to apply to U.Va. thanks to this program.”
Glover also said that the University’s financial aid resources are critical in promoting and welcoming a diverse class to the University.
For the third year in a row, the University did not provide admission statistics broken down by race. Following the 2023 Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action, the University was required to remove the “checkbox” on the application that requested students to share their race/ethnicity.
The University also removed the supplemental essay on the undergraduate application that invited students to discuss their individual background and perspective following the investigation by the Justice Department ensuring compliance with civil rights laws. Glover shared that the University removed the question to lessen the workload of prospective students. Glover, when asked, did not confirm if the DOJ investigations and the removal of the supplemental question were connected.
All admission statistics for ED are available for review on the University's admission blog, “Notes from Peabody.” In-depth admission statistics from previous cycles are available on the Institutional Research and Analytics website.
The final application deadline for students applying to the University is Jan. 5. Students who applied early action will be notified of their decisions by Feb. 15, and students who applied regular decision will be notified by April 1. Students are able to apply to the University through the Common Application.
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