Oakland University

Oakland University offers accessible admissions for undergraduate applicants, though its overall draw remains relatively modest. In the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, the university stood at 308, improving from 332 in 2024. For the entering class of 2025, the university admitted 87.8% of applicants, an acceptance rate higher than 53% of 30 public research universities with similar rankings. However, the yield rate—the share of admitted students who ultimately enroll—was 14.7%, which is higher than only 13% of schools in the same peer group. This indicates that while the vast majority of applicants receive an offer, relatively few choose to attend. For prospective students, these figures suggest that admission is not particularly competitive, making Oakland University a straightforward option for those seeking admission to a regional public research university.

Oakland University follows an admission test policy that is optional, with scores considered if submitted. For 2025, published score ranges center on an SAT midpoint of 1120, which is higher than 73% of peer schools among similarly ranked public national universities. Standardized test reporting has become rare at the university, with SAT and ACT submission rates both falling to 1% in 2025. Because most applicants apply without test scores, high school academic performance carries primary weight in admissions decisions. For the 2023–2024 entering cohort, more than a third achieved a high school GPA of 3.75 or higher, and the majority maintained grades solidly in the B-plus to A range. Prospective applicants targeting Oakland University are best positioned when presenting a strong high school transcript alongside standardized test results that match or exceed the university's peer-competitive median.

Academic offerings at Oakland University show clear concentration in healthcare and applied professional tracks. Undergraduate degree conferrals are moderately focused, with the top three bachelor's programs accounting for 26.5% of all undergraduate degrees awarded in 2025. Registered Nursing stands out as the university's largest undergraduate program by a wide margin, awarding 459 bachelor's degrees. This major aligns directly with Oakland's prominent graduate strengths, where the U.S. News graduate rankings placed its medical school 3rd for research and 4th for primary care, alongside a nursing graduate program ranked 64th. The largest undergraduate major is therefore tied directly to the institution's most acclaimed academic discipline. In terms of compensation, technical and clinical fields provide the strongest initial financial returns. According to 2023 earnings data, bachelor's degree graduates in Computer Engineering achieved median first-year earnings of $91,164, leading all undergraduate programs, followed closely by other engineering and nursing graduates. For prospective applicants, Oakland offers well-established pipelines into health sciences and engineering, where program visibility and workforce compensation remain particularly solid.

Oakland University enrolled a total of 15,768 students in 2025, with undergraduates representing the vast majority of the campus population. Across the undergraduate division, white students form the predominant demographic group, accompanied by smaller representations of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students. Among first-time freshmen, Asian students accounted for 5% of the entering class, while international undergraduates made up a very small share. International and racial diversity expands substantially at the graduate level. In 2025, the university enrolled 477 international graduate students, who made up 15% of the entire graduate student body. Asian students also maintained a noticeable presence in advanced degree programs, representing nearly one-tenth of graduate enrollment. In addition, female students form a consistent majority across all academic levels, comprising nearly six in ten enrolled students among both undergraduate cohorts and graduate degree seekers.

The age profiles of undergraduate and graduate students at Oakland University reflect distinctly different stages of education. In 2025, the undergraduate population was overwhelmingly composed of traditional college-age individuals. Students aged 18 to 19 made up 30.8% of undergraduates, and those aged 20 to 21 accounted for 30.6%, with students in their early twenties making up most of the remainder. This concentration establishes a traditional undergraduate campus atmosphere focused on foundational daytime study. In contrast, graduate programs serve an older, career-oriented demographic, where students aged 25 to 29 formed the largest segment at 33.1%. This clear separation indicates that graduate coursework caters to working professionals and continuing learners advancing their careers.

International student enrollment at Oakland University differs sharply between undergraduate and graduate divisions. At the undergraduate level, international participation is modest. In 2025, international students represented 1.9% of all undergraduates, a share that has stayed relatively stable over the past decade and is higher than 60% of 30 public comprehensive universities with similar rankings. In contrast, international representation at the graduate level has expanded over time, reaching 15% of total graduate enrollment in 2025. International degree recipients are heavily concentrated in specific technical disciplines rather than distributed evenly across fields. At the bachelor's level, international students earned only a tiny fraction of degrees across all majors. However, in master's programs, international graduates made up nearly one-fifth of all degree recipients, led by Computer and Information Sciences, where international students earned 63.8% of the awarded master's degrees. International doctoral candidates similarly cluster in engineering tracks, reflecting how global enrollment at the university is concentrated within advanced STEM programs.

Applicants exploring higher education options in southeastern Michigan will find several public and private institutions located within commuting distance of Oakland University. In nearby Detroit, the University of Detroit Mercy is a private national university located 18.4 kilometers away and ranked 186 in the 2027 U.S. News rankings. Also in Detroit, Wayne State University sits 23.1 kilometers from Oakland University and holds a matching national university ranking of 186. Further southwest, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is situated 38 kilometers away, ranked 25th nationally as a major public flagship institution. In addition, Michigan State University is located 64.1 kilometers to the west in East Lansing and ranked 69th among national universities.

Campus safety at Oakland University has improved over the past decade based on official institutional reporting. Forward Pathway's crime rate per 1,000 students dropped to 3.4 in 2025, down from 7.7 in 2016, indicating a substantial multi-year reduction in reported incidents across the campus community. Looking at total incidents across the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, interpersonal offenses and behavioral violations represented the most common categories. Stalking was the most frequently recorded incident type, with a total of 40 cases across those years, followed by 31 disciplinary referrals for liquor law violations. Property and vehicle crimes also occurred during this timeframe, including motor vehicle thefts and general larceny offenses, along with reported sexual offenses and robberies. For prospective students and families, these records reflect lower overall crime rates than in earlier years, alongside the typical security challenges found on large public university campuses.