Auburn University

Gaining admission to Auburn University has become increasingly competitive, even as its institutional standing holds relatively steady. In the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, Auburn placed 100th, hovering around the top hundred mark over recent years. Getting accepted is far more selective than at many comparable public institutions. When compared to 30 similarly ranked public research universities in 2025, Auburn registered an admit rate of 45.9%, which was higher than 17% of peer schools. This indicates that Auburn rejects a larger share of applicants than most colleges in its cohort. Once admitted, students demonstrate a relatively strong inclination to enroll. The university posted a yield rate of 24.1%, which was higher than 80% of peer schools. Although less than a quarter of accepted candidates ultimately matriculate, this draw remains well above the median for its peer group. For prospective students, Auburn's rising selectivity and solid yield mean that securing a spot requires an application that stands out among a crowded applicant pool.

Auburn University follows an admission test policy where test scores are optional, but considered if submitted. For 2025, published score ranges show that the middle half of enrolled students achieved an ACT Composite score between 26 and 31, while their median SAT score reached 1320. That median SAT is higher than 76% of peer schools in a comparison group of thirty similarly ranked public universities. In 2025, far more students submitted ACT scores than SAT scores. Furthermore, applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway, which are unofficial data rather than official school statistics, show admitted international students held a median unweighted GPA of 3.6. For families planning their applications, these figures indicate that successful applicants generally present solid high school grade records alongside testing credentials that match or exceed these mid-range scores.

Undergraduate study at Auburn University is broadly distributed across academic disciplines rather than concentrated in a few fields. In 2025, the top three bachelor degree programs—Business Administration and Management, General; Finance, General; and Biomedical Sciences, General—accounted for only 18.3% of all bachelor degrees. Auburn's largest undergraduate programs do not entirely overlap with its highest-ranked offerings. In U.S. News rankings, undergraduate Supply Chain Management placed 17th in 2027, while graduate Veterinary Medicine achieved a national rank of 11th in 2026. Looking at financial outcomes, graduates from technology and engineering programs command the highest starting compensation. According to 2023 earnings data, bachelor degree recipients in Computer Science achieved median first-year earnings of $97,822, followed closely by Chemical Engineering graduates at $86,441. For prospective applicants, Auburn provides substantial breadth across large foundational majors in business and the sciences, alongside nationally recognized specialty disciplines that lead directly to lucrative career tracks.

Auburn University enrolled 34,145 students in 2025, forming a large campus community where undergraduates make up the vast majority. The undergraduate population is predominantly domestic, with White students representing the majority across all classes. Asian students maintain a steady but modest share across campus, including 578 continuing undergraduates and smaller cohorts among freshmen and graduate scholars. International representation differs sharply depending on degree level. While international enrollment is sparse among undergraduates—totaling just 38 incoming freshmen—the graduate school features a much higher concentration. International graduate scholars number 1,307, accounting for roughly a fifth of all graduate degree seekers. For prospective applicants, these demographics show a traditional undergraduate environment shaped primarily by domestic students, contrasted with a noticeably more international graduate academic community.

Auburn University's undergraduate student body is overwhelmingly composed of traditional college-aged students, creating an active undergraduate campus atmosphere centered on young adults. In 2025, students aged 18 to 19 made up 41.6% of undergraduates, while those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 40.3%. Together, more than eight in ten undergraduates are under the age of 22, indicating that the vast majority enter directly from high school and follow a standard four-year timeline. In contrast, the graduate student population displays a more mature age spread. Students aged 22 to 24 represent 30.4% of graduate enrollment, and those aged 25 to 29 make up another 29.9%. This clear demographic division means that daily undergraduate student life revolves around traditional collegiate experiences, while graduate programs serve early-career adults pursuing advanced specialization.

International enrollment at Auburn University follows divergent paths between the undergraduate and graduate divisions. At the undergraduate level, international representation has trended downward over recent years, declining to 1.6% in 2025. When measured against 30 similarly ranked public research universities, Auburn's undergraduate international share was higher than 20% of peer schools, reflecting a relatively small overseas presence. Conversely, the graduate international population has grown steadily, reaching 21% of all graduate students in 2025. Academic concentration also differs sharply by degree level. Among undergraduate degree earners, international representation remains minimal across large fields like business administration and finance. At the graduate level, however, international students concentrate heavily in technical disciplines. In 2025, international students comprised 52.9% of master graduates in Computer Engineering, and they represented the majority of doctoral recipients in fields such as chemical and mechanical engineering. For international applicants, this distribution shows that graduate engineering and science departments provide a much stronger peer community than undergraduate classrooms.

Families exploring collegiate choices in the southeastern region can consider several strong institutions located within a short drive of Auburn. In downtown Atlanta, about 103 kilometers away, Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus stands as a prominent national university, ranked 29th in the 2027 rankings. Nearby in Atlanta, Emory University is another premier option, holding the 23rd spot among national universities at a distance of 106 kilometers. For students looking at public research opportunities within Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham sits roughly 98 kilometers to the northwest and is ranked 137th. Additionally, The University of Alabama, located 127 kilometers from Auburn in Tuscaloosa, offers another major state university alternative and holds the 156th position in the national university rankings. Examining these neighboring universities gives applicants a wider view of public and private options across Alabama and neighboring Georgia.

Campus safety trends at Auburn University indicate a general decline in reported incidents over the past decade. The crime rate per 1,000 students decreased from earlier highs to 9.1 in 2025. Records covering the three-year period from 2023 to 2025 show that campus infractions were heavily dominated by substance-related disciplinary actions. Disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations represented the largest overall category, totaling 848 incidents across those years. Beyond disciplinary referrals, law enforcement logged 173 drug arrests as well as a similar number of liquor law arrests. In terms of interpersonal safety and property offenses, the university recorded 196 stalking incidents alongside lower totals for motor vehicle theft and assault between 2023 and 2025. These figures demonstrate that while university disciplinary violations involving alcohol make up the primary share of logged reports, criminal arrests and personal conduct complaints also take place. Prospective students and families can review these multi-year totals to understand the campus safety environment.