United States Naval Academy

Admission to the United States Naval Academy is highly selective, and its national standing has risen significantly over the past decade. In the 2027 U.S. News National Liberal Arts Colleges ranking, the academy placed 3rd, continuing a steady climb from rank 21 in 2018. For the entering class of 2025, the overall acceptance rate stood at 9.3%, which is higher than 23% of peer liberal arts colleges with similar ranks. Acceptance rates were closely matched between male and female applicants, and thousands of candidates were turned away. Once admitted, students commit at an exceptionally high frequency. The academy recorded an 84.2% yield rate in 2025, higher than all peer schools in its comparison group where the peer median was 40.1%. This strong draw indicates that the vast majority of admitted students choose to matriculate, underscoring the focused commitment expected of incoming midshipmen and making spots intensely competitive from initial application to final enrollment.

Applicants targeting the United States Naval Academy face demanding academic standards, though test score profiles reflect the broad evaluation criteria used across military service academies. In 2025, the academy recorded a median SAT score of 1300, which was lower than all peer schools among peer liberal arts colleges with similar ranks, where the peer median stood at 1500. For students taking the ACT, the middle 50% composite score ranged from 25 to 31. Standardized testing remains widely reported by incoming midshipmen, with the vast majority submitting SAT results alongside physical and leadership evaluations. These testing figures indicate that while competitive test results are essential, admission relies on a multi-dimensional assessment rather than standardized testing alone. Prospective candidates should target composite scores at or above 31 on the ACT, or equivalent SAT standing, to build a solid academic foundation for consideration.

Degree conferrals at the United States Naval Academy are balanced across technical and quantitative disciplines rather than being heavily concentrated in a single department. In 2025, the academy awarded 1,064 bachelor degrees, with no graduate degrees offered. The top three majors accounted for 27.1% of all bachelor graduates, showing moderate dispersion across fields of study. The single largest program was Econometrics and Quantitative Economics with 97 graduates, closely followed by political science and operations research. Other prominent programs include mechatronics engineering, history, and English. In the 2027 U.S. News undergraduate major rankings, Computer Science ranked 88th, while Economics ranked 97th. The largest major thus directly reflects one of the academy's nationally ranked departments. International student participation in these programs remains minimal, representing only 1.4% of total bachelor graduates in 2025. For applicants, the curriculum provides solid foundations in technical and quantitative fields designed to prepare midshipmen for technical leadership roles.

The undergraduate student body at the United States Naval Academy numbered 4,474 midshipmen in 2025, with no graduate student population. The incoming first-year class comprised 1,170 students, while returning upperclassmen accounted for the remainder of the corps. Men make up the predominant share of the student body, comprising over two-thirds of the midshipmen across all classes. In terms of racial composition, White students represent the largest single demographic group, accounting for over half of both new and returning students, followed by Hispanic midshipmen. Asian students form a notable component of the brigade, representing 11.3% of incoming freshmen and roughly a tenth of returning upperclassmen. International students constitute a very small presence on campus, making up 1.5% of the first-year cohort. This makeup creates an undergraduate student body drawn almost entirely from domestic applicants across the nation.

The United States Naval Academy maintains an exclusively undergraduate student body concentrated almost entirely in traditional college age brackets. In 2025, all 4,474 enrolled students were undergraduates, as the academy enrolls zero graduate students. Midshipmen aged 20 to 21 made up the largest group at 45% of total enrollment, followed by 18- to 19-year-olds at 40%, while students aged 22 to 24 accounted for 13.2%. Together, these three groups account for the vast majority of the midshipmen population. With no graduate students and very few students outside these cohorts, academic programs and daily campus life center strictly on young adults pursuing their four-year degrees.

International students comprise a minimal portion of the student body at the United States Naval Academy. In 2025, international midshipmen accounted for 1.3% of undergraduate enrollment, a rate that held steady from 2016. Compared to 30 peer liberal arts colleges with similar rankings, where the median share was 10.7%, the academy was lower than all peer schools. Because the academy enrolls no graduate students, foreign enrollment is confined entirely to the bachelor level. Among graduating midshipmen in 2025, international students made up 1.4% of degree recipients, completing degrees across fields such as Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering, Operations Research, and Econometrics and Quantitative Economics. For families evaluating colleges, these figures confirm that international students represent a very small presence across campus.

Families exploring college choices in the broader Maryland and Washington, D.C. area can consider several well-known institutions located near Annapolis. Located just 0.5 kilometers away is St. John's College, which ranks 81st among Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2027 rankings. Heading toward the metropolitan region, University of Maryland-College Park is 24.9 kilometers away and holds the 49th rank among National Universities. To the north in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University sits 25.2 kilometers from the academy and ranks 9th among National Universities. Additionally, Georgetown University is located 32.2 kilometers away in the nation's capital, holding the 23rd spot among National Universities. These options provide families with a variety of civilian institutional settings within a short travel distance.

Official campus safety records for the United States Naval Academy reflect an environment with no recorded infractions. From 2016 through 2025, the academy maintained a crime rate per 1,000 students of 0 in each evaluated year. Over the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, there were zero reported incidents across every major safety and disciplinary category tracked in the records. This absence of recorded incidents includes zero violent crimes, property offenses, and disciplinary referrals during that entire window. Because the academy reports no incidents across all categories, its statistical crime profile remains completely flat across the decade. For families and applicants assessing campus life and physical security, these figures indicate that the institution had no documented safety violations or disciplinary issues on record between 2023 and 2025.