University of Notre Dame

Admission to the University of Notre Dame is highly selective, and the university maintains a strong pull among admitted candidates. In the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, Notre Dame ranked 20th among national universities, holding steady near the top twenty where it has consistently placed in recent years. For the class entering in 2025, the university admitted 11.3% of its applicants. When evaluated against a peer group of 30 similarly ranked private research universities, this acceptance rate was higher than 73% of peer schools, indicating that admission is slightly more accessible than at some of its closest private counterparts. However, Notre Dame commands solid loyalty once offers are extended. Its yield rate reached 61.7% in 2025, which was higher than 63% of peer schools. This substantial yield demonstrates that a clear majority of admitted students choose to enroll, reflecting the university's distinct appeal. For prospective applicants, these metrics mean that while earning an acceptance letter requires exceptional preparation, Notre Dame remains a definitive destination rather than an incidental option for the students it admits.

Applicants targeting the University of Notre Dame must present exceptional standardized test scores and top-tier academic marks to remain competitive. For the 2025 enrolled class, Notre Dame reported a median SAT score of 1520. Compared to a peer group of 29 similarly ranked private research universities with testing data, this median was higher than 31% of peer schools, illustrating the demanding testing standards shared across elite private institutions. Enrolled students also posted composite ACT scores clustered near the top of the testing scale. For international candidates, unofficial applicant cases collected by Forward Pathway provide additional context on admissions thresholds. Among these unofficial records, accepted international applicants presented a median unweighted GPA of 3.96 alongside a median SAT score of 1485, whereas denied applicants had noticeably lower academic and testing profiles. These figures indicate that applicants need nearly perfect high school grades and test scores near the top percentiles to secure admission, making thorough academic preparation essential throughout secondary school.

Academic programs at the University of Notre Dame show a strong concentration in business, quantitative fields, and the sciences, with degree offerings aligning closely with its highest-ranked disciplines. In 2025, undergraduate degree awards showed moderate concentration, as the top three bachelor's majors accounted for 26.8% of all bachelor's degrees. The single largest undergraduate program was Finance, graduating 307 students, followed by Neuroscience and Computer and Information Sciences. These high-enrollment areas mirror Notre Dame's strongest national reputations. In the 2027 U.S. News rankings, undergraduate accounting ranked 8th, undergraduate finance placed 13th, and the undergraduate business program ranked 15th nationally. Graduates from these flagship disciplines experience strong market outcomes. According to 2023 earnings data, graduates in Finance and Financial Management Services achieved median earnings of $141,543 one year after graduation, while computer science graduates also earned six-figure starting salaries. For prospective undergraduates, Notre Dame offers premier training where the most popular majors are simultaneously its most prestigious and lucrative paths.

The student body at the University of Notre Dame is predominantly domestic and undergraduate, though international enrollment forms a substantial component at the graduate level. White students make up the majority of the student population across both undergraduate and graduate divisions, followed by Hispanic and Latino students as the largest domestic minority community. Among first-year undergraduates in 2025, international students numbered 159, representing a 7.6% share of the incoming class. In the same freshman group, Asian students numbered 117, comprising a 5.6% share. Continuing undergraduate classes maintain comparable demographic balances, whereas graduate programs show a distinctly different profile. In graduate education, international scholars account for over a quarter of all enrolled advanced-degree students, bringing a broader global perspective to research and teaching, while Asian students represent a modest domestic share. For prospective applicants, the composition reflects an institution centered around a traditional domestic undergraduate community alongside a globally diverse graduate student body.

The age distributions at the University of Notre Dame show a clear separation between undergraduate and graduate populations. Undergraduates are overwhelmingly of traditional college age. In 2025, students aged 20 to 21 formed the largest undergraduate group at 48.6%, followed by those aged 18 to 19 at 43.8%. Very few undergraduates fall outside the standard four-year college bracket. In contrast, graduate students are concentrated in early adulthood, led by the 25-to-29 age group at 37.6%, alongside another large cohort aged 22 to 24. This demographic divide defines campus life: the undergraduate experience is shaped by peers moving through college synchronously at the same life stage, while graduate students bring the maturity of independent research and early-career professional training.

International student representation at the University of Notre Dame has expanded over the past decade, though global enrollment remains heavily concentrated at the advanced-degree level. In 2025, international students comprised 7.5% of the undergraduate student body. When compared to a peer group of 30 similarly ranked private research universities, this undergraduate proportion was higher than 13% of peer schools, reflecting a smaller undergraduate international footprint than many peer institutions. Conversely, international presence is much stronger in graduate education, where international students made up 27.5% of all graduate students in 2025. Among 2025 degree recipients, international students earned 25.2% of master's degrees. Within specific disciplines, international master's graduates concentrated primarily in quantitative business programs such as Financial Mathematics and Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Other. At the undergraduate level, international graduates were most visible in Management Science and Finance, General. For prospective international applicants, these patterns indicate a modest undergraduate presence alongside an established and growing community across graduate and quantitative fields.

Families considering the University of Notre Dame have access to several diverse higher education institutions across northern Indiana and the broader Chicago metropolitan region. Immediately adjacent to Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College is a private liberal arts college situated just 1 kilometer away, ranked 78th among national liberal arts colleges in 2027. Moving slightly north into Michigan, Andrews University is a national university located 19 kilometers away, holding the 262nd rank. Further east in Michigan, Kalamazoo College sits 52.1 kilometers away and is ranked 74th among liberal arts colleges. For students seeking an urban research institution, the University of Chicago is located 70.4 kilometers to the west in Chicago and placed 9th among national universities in the 2027 rankings. These surrounding colleges provide alternative campus settings ranging from small liberal arts communities to major metropolitan research universities.

Campus safety data for the University of Notre Dame shows that documented offenses are predominantly non-violent and centered on student conduct enforcement. In 2025, the university recorded a crime rate per 1,000 students of 16.5, showing a general decline over the previous decade. Between 2023 and 2025, disciplinary referrals for alcohol violations represented the vast majority of all campus incidents, totaling 1,403 over that three-year period. Beyond substance policy enforcement, property offenses constituted the main category of physical crime, with motor vehicle theft accounting for 239 incidents from 2023 to 2025. Other recorded incidents across these years included smaller numbers of alcohol arrests, drug arrests, and larcenies. For students evaluating campus security, the environment is generally characterized by low levels of interpersonal violence, with reported statistics driven overwhelmingly by institutional alcohol policy enforcement and occasional property theft.